Angel of Peace
by Gelasia Kidd
Summary: One slip on the part of Chara, and a desperate act, has Frisk wresting control of the resets away from the demon possessing her mind. The next reset starts too early, in a place she didn't expect. Yet still, she has the DETERMINATION to save everyone. Even if it takes her whole life.. even, if he never forgives her. Fem!Frisk [ Sans x Frisk ]
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale. This will be the only disclaimer for the whole story; it applies to each chapter.**_

 _A.N. Another Undertale fic, sorry guys. I started writing it and couldn't stop. The story is done, completely. It won't change, and I won't give spoilers, and for that I apologize at the grief it may cause. You will probably cry. More than once. I did, writing it. But if you have the_ _ **DETERMINATION**_ _to see it through.. you will feel rewarded._

 _I will update once a day, and I'm still sorting out when chapters start and end- It's really one big blurb at the moment._

 _So_ _ **WARNING:**_ _There will be various warnings at the beginning of each chapter. Some chapters may have triggers._ _ **This one is suicide**_ _._

 **Prologue: Soul Shatters**

Frisk woke slowly, her soul aching at the thought of another reset. The last hundreds resets had been hell.. especially the recent one. She lay there, and she prayed, and remembered.

 **0000**

Another lifetime of killing them all, another painful lifetime where she'd fought with your best friend at the end of it..the one she loved. She was so damned tired of it all. She wasn't a kid again, not really. She had lived hundreds of years by now.. she wasn't even sure she was worthy of the title of person anymore.

It didn't really end at the Underground, afterall. That demon who lived in her body didn't let her rest there. She killed, and killed and killed. There was nothing left. She was unable to be killed herself, and she would load saves to kill over and over. Nothing lived, except maybe a hardy bugs and fish at these ends.

She didn't stop with the knife anymore, Frisk remembered, the demon would go onto other weapons. And while blood never really satisfied that demon anymore, nuclear winters did. That ash was so beautiful..

Frisk never wanted to see it again. On the last run that demon realized that Frisk's despair was fading. Frisk was becoming numb to the horrors.. the demon couldn't have that. So in the hall of judgement, just as the fight started, she gave Frisk control back.

Her eyes warm hazel again, she looked at her hands, watching them shake as she dropped the knife.

 _Dustdustdust_ **BLOODBLOODBLOOD**

And she _shrieked_. "Getoutofmegetoutofme," Frisk babbled, scratching at her skin manically, the blood rivelets dripping down her arms.

The flash of movement near her startled her, falling to the side. A bone swung past her, with deadened, hopeless, furious eyes. Frisk knew she had done this. She wasn't strong enough to fight past that demon, and everyone paid. Yet, she selfishly begged.

"Sans, help, its i-" she was not able to finish as another wave battered against her. The curseful LOVE that had been gathered allowed her to survive the blow.

"why would i ever help a filthy demon like you?" Sans snarled, the grin on his face looking mad. There was light back in his eyes.. it was angry, but it wasn't dead. Frisk was glad.

"I'm sorry, S-" another wave of bones battered her.

"Pl-" another wave of bones battered her.

The laughing in her head grew, and she realized she didn't have much time before the demon took her control away, and Frisk couldn't look at Sans anymore.

"You'll never forgive me, huh?" she mumbled.

"nope," Sans said, gleefully surrounding Frisk with bones.

Frisk could feel Chara slipping back, even as she thought the name. Chara would dodge, and kill her best friend again. Frisk grabbed the knife, and Sans stood there, hand raised. He watched as the faux-child looked at the knife with blank eyes.

It looked like she was unsure how to hold it- turning it over in her hand. Then Frisk made some reverse grip, and with a great motion..

..drove it into her stomach. Her body arched backwards in pain, as she fell backwards. Sans continued to hold his arm up, but his fingers twitched, as if unsure. Frisk raised her hand from her stomach, and seeing the stomach fluids among the blood, closed her eyes frustratedly. She had missed her heart.

She had seen the demon inflict this kind of wound before. It was slow, an agonizing- one of her favorite stab wounds on humans, almost as fantastic as killing everyone Frisk loved over and over again.

Chara was going to take control again, and eat the pie she had been saving to torment Asgore with. For dramatic effect she had smothered it in Toriel's ashes... With a painful gasp, she rolled over onto her side and looked up at Sans with a pitiful look on her face.

"S-sans.." she choked out. "C-cut off my arms and legs. She going to take my body again and I won't let her hurt you again."

The blue light faded from Sans eyes, and the bones clattered around her.

"..what?"

"Please Sans! Hurry! Just.. don't kill me," she trailed off. "Cautarize the limb wounds, and let me bleed out from my own injury. It might stop this!"

The light in his eyes glowed and faded as his expressions slipped between agony and delight. Delight covered his face at last, maddened, as he slashed her arms off, using his magic to sear the wounds closed.

Frisk bit through her lip, trying not to scream. It hurt, it really hurt. Tears ran down her cheeks as she looked up at Sans and saw none of her Sans left. So she said the only thing she could.

"Thank you," she sobbed. She couldn't even sign I love you to him now, like she had done in the first lifetime, before he built herself up enough to talk. So as the red glow started slipping up her eyes from the bottom, she said her final words.

"I miss you a skele-ton," Frisk told Sans, her eyes starting to slip from her natural brown. "I lov-" and the glow was fully there, and Frisk was shoved away again.

 **"HAHAHAHA!"** Chara cackled madly. **"YOU THINK YOU'VE STOPPED ME, FRISK?!"** Usually Chara talked to her mentally, but Chara's glee at this agony made her slip. **"I'LL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! YOU WILL NEVER STOP!"**

An unholy screech left Frisk, and one eye was red, and the other was brown. "No!" Frisk screamed. "I won't let you!"

 **"YOU CAN'T STOP ME!"** Chara cackled.

"I WILL!" Frisk promised. "I WON'T LET THEM DOWN AGAIN!"

The world was flood with red, as Frisk's _**DETERMINATION**_ came back, shoving and pushing at Chara's essence. And for the first time, Frisk grabbed control. For the first time, Frisk reset.


	2. Chapter 2

_A.N. Bit of a hopeful chapter. Some angst, and a lot of comfort. Expect some oddities._

 _ **Warnings:**_ _Past mentions of violence and implied abuse._

 **Ch. 1: Stranger Days**

Frisk finally opened her eyes, and it took her muddled, anguished mind, several minutes before processing what she was seeing, and what she wasn't. The white, somewhat familiar ceiling above her, wasn't the hole above the Ruins she expected.

She sat up carefully, looking around, taking in the sight of the room, bewilderedly. It was.. what was this? She slipped out of the bed, looking at the crayon pictures on the wall. She.. remembered this. Why..?

She looked at the huge, childish calender, touching the velcrow shape on the date. This was .. she looked at the date. This was when she was 6, several years into her speech therapy. Before they had given up on her, and thrown her into the system.

The special needs orphanage was a bittersweet memory, and she didn't realize it then, but now, with an older mind, she understood the words that had been said then. The funding had been cut back, and they were having to keep only the worst off children.. and those trying to get better.

It was after one particularly bad foster parent that she escaped to Mt. Ebbot. It wasn't actually all that far from the orphanage, but that was luck on her part. It wasn't even labeled, since it was covered with trees to the point they believed it was more of a hill than anything else.

Her hands shook as she stepped backwards. Was it all just a horrible dream? Why would she remember all these things? Not only memories, but the knowledge, even just the school knowledge.

She rememebered growing old, with her family, her monster family, by her side. That had probably been why Chara had taken control.. Frisk knew she wouldn't be able to stay by Sans forever. She loved him desperately, but wouldn't inflict that on him, ever. And in hospice, surrounded by her family, she gave up. Her determination failed, as she couldn't even tell her best friend she loved him in her final breath.

Her lips twisted. That wasn't going to be an option now. If dying would just reset things again..That was a thought she didn't want to think about very hard. As she flopped down on the bed, something poked into her.

She stood, and looked where she sat. The haunting heart locket lay there, and with shaking hands she picked it up, looking at the image with pained eyes. She clasped it shut quickly, and shoved it into the drawer.

Frisk didn't want to get rid of the last bit of her memories of the Underground, but she was terrified of that locket. A knock on her door startled her, and she stubbed her toe on the edge of the bed.

"Frisk, sweetie," the caretaker, Marlene if she remembered correctly, called for her. "It's time for your special lessons." The door opened, and Frisk, was rubbing her toe with one hand.

"Oh Frisk," Marlene fussed, picking her up and setting her on the bed. "What did you do to yourself?"

Hesitantly, Frisk brought her hands up. She hadn't signed in awhile, but her memory of the language didn't fade, and her hands in this age were familiar with the motions.

'Hit foot bed,' Frisk signed. 'Startled knock'

"Oh dear, I'm sorry sweetie," Marlene cooed. "Does it hurt much?" Frisk waved hand in a so-so motion, before pinching her fingers to say "just a little."

"Ow," Frisk said audibly.. And Marlene's face lit up. "Frisk! You did it!"

Frisk was confused for a moment, before she realized she had said a word. She touched her throat, and watched Marlene stare at her with wonder.

"I t-" Frisk started, before coughing terribly hard. Her throat was not ready to say her first words so clearly. Marlene rushed out, bringing back a glass of water, which Frisk sipped gratefully.

"Sweetheart," Marlene told her hesitantly. "I'm so happy to hear you, but let's wait for your special lessons, okay? He's got special ways to talk to make it less owwie."

Frisk nodded reluctantly, and stood, taking her hand. She ignored the feeling of someone watching through her eyes in silent bewilderment.

0000

The years passed. Chara watched quietly from the back of her head, rarely letting a noise out. The first time Frisk dreamed of Chara's past, she woke up in a cold sweat. The second time, she sat there thinking about it. Every week at least one memory was revealed. Terribly sad memories.

A year later, Frisk was talking full sentences. On the anniversary of her first year on this reset, she opened the locket and looked the image with new eyes. A happy Asriel and a smiling but scared Chara stood in a close embrace. She seemed to look out at the camera with..

Frisk froze as a feeling not her own flashed through her body, and a memory of Chara looking at Toriel in hesitance filled her. 'No one is this nice..they are going to hurt me just like..' and the memory cut off.

And the first sentence Chara said since the reset was heard. **"..I don't like this."** Frisk couldn't tell if she or Chara was feeling this fear.

That night she dreamed of Asriel's death, and the fear Chara had when Asriel let himself die and Chara's soul be destroyed along side his. Betrayed, in the end.

And that morning Frisk woke up with a new perspective. She decided for the first time, that she was going to do her best. She may not be able to rescue them from the Underground, but she was going to learn how to keep them safe. Even if it meant being alone till the end of time.

It was a year later, when the 8 year old Frisk was half way through highschool, when the final stretch of memories hit. Frisk was far enough ahead, by a long shot, that the principal allowed her a week off, if she kept up with her work.

So she started drawing. One of Chara's happy memories, holding Toriel's hand as they walked through the not-yet-ruined Ruins. Frisk was incredibly hurt and bitter.. but it wasn't at Chara anymore. It was circumstance, now.

Frisk realized she had lived a full, happy life, once. She had grown up, and Chara.. hadn't. And it was time to be the adult.

 **"..why..?"** Chara mumbled in the back of Frisk's head. Frisk sat still, mentally and physically, for a long moment. And then, closing her eyes, visualized Chara, and sweeping Chara into a hug.

 **"WHY?!"** Chara cried in that mental image. Frisk could feel their SOUL being battered, but held on to Chara, hurt heart hurting for what that child could have been. Their HP fell, point by point. She had 5 HP left when Chara's blows became soft breezes, and sobbing filled their mind.

 **"..why?"** the demon, no, child, whimpered. She could have been destroyed by Frisk in that moment, but Frisk couldn't bring herself to do it.. even after all the pain. The hundreds of years of death. It.. wasn't..her. That wasn't who she was.

So Frisk did what she could. She was slightly smaller than Chara currently, so she kissed Chara on the cheek, and gave her mercy. She spared Chara.

It was a few days before she went back to school, and she slept through most of it, weak. It was a frantic month of tests and studying, then. And so, a month later, she graduated. It was time to grow up.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A.N.**_ _Things are getting real now. Lotsa angst coming. Don't give up! Stay_ _ **DETERMINED**_ _!_

 _ **Warning:**_ _Character death and overall sads._

 **Chapter 2: Goodbye**

When Frisk was 11, she had just completed her associates degree and was moving on to medical school. She was tired, and her own memories filled her head. She missed them so much..

A year ago, she had finally proven herself capable of being emancipated. They considered her a genius, but she really wasn't. Frisk was just horribly DETERMINED to make this work.

So she took a break, and under a penname, began to write a book.. It was called Undertale, and it was a multi part young adult novel, with sporadic illustrations she drew to the best of her ability.

Under the pen name Toby Fox, she started publishing the books, trying to share her world with others. But she didn't expect the popularity to sweep through the world. The fandom was insane.. Her face turned beet red at some of the fan made stuff out there.

She was never going to get that out of her head now. And it had to happen when puberty kicked in!

Chara was communicating, on and off, and spent a lot of time equally laughing and going EW each time Frisk found some of this stuff. That was one thing about having a child inside your head.

And Chara really was turning into a child. One of the flashback gave her the memory of Chara's birthdate. And every year, without fail, she would buy a chocolate cake and allow Chara to feel her senses as she ate it. It was an expression of trust, one that thankfully, never broke.

When Frisk hesitantly brought up the topic, there was a huge embarrassed flush through Chara's emotions. **"..idiot.. if I killed everyone, no one would bake me cake."**

From then on, twice a week Frisk would eat something chocolate and let Chara taste it. Once a month she would block out Chara from her head, a ability discovered and allowed when Chara realized this puberty thing wasn't going to end and only get worse.. and practice baking.

On Chara's next birthday, she watched Frisk bake her a amazing, chef worthy cake, with shaved dutch chocolate over a thick chocolate syrup.

And Chara felt joy for the first time since she died. Because for some, bizarre reason, even at risk to herself, Frisk kept showing her compassion.

Another two years past, and Frisk was 14. Undertale had become so large.. Frisk had composed pieces of music that reminded her of each of her friends, and was working on the last one. A long version of the music box..

Chara watched quietly, as Frisk composed the song. She wasn't unaware that Frisk was avoiding that mountain she wanted to go to, so bad. She also knew that while Frisk had forgiven her, she had never forgotten.

She never wanted to risk that Chara could backslide, and her friends would die all over again. So, her birthday coming up, she talked to Frisk, instead of snarking, as she would an older sister, even a mother figure.

Chara ate her cake, closed her eyes, and said the hardest thing she had ever vocalized.

 **"Frisk,"** Chara spoke, in a subdued manner.

 **"Yes, Cherry?"** Frisk said, a smile on her face. Frisk tried to smile a lot, like he always had. She made bad jokes, would spend at least one day a week totally lazy, and had a large sock collection.

Frisk didn't know that Chara felt everything Frisk felt, even still, and the longing anguish no longer made Chara happy.

 **"You need to go home,"** Chara told Frisk. Frisk froze, putting the plate she had been washing down, and her smile grew wider as she shut her eyes, so similar to Sans expression. "But sweetie, we are home."

 **"No.. we aren't,"** Chara said. Her voice was very very quiet now, and a a mournful tone that Frisk never heard from Chara vibrated through her SOUL.

There was a long, tense moment of mutual pain, before Chara did the most selfless thing she had ever done before. She gave Frisk HOPE.

 **"I love you Mom,"** Chara whispered. **"Goodbye.."** And Frisk felt the hands she always had lingering on her shoulders.. let go, and drift away.

 **0000**

Chara never returned, and when Frisk was about to turn 15, she decided to take a sabbatical. She packed up all her books, a bunch of travel photo books, a 4G phone with a plug in solar charger, and the biggest variety of history she could.

Her plan was to come back once a week, to restock, bath, and take care of home necessities. It was ironic.. the same world that had made it so hard for monsters to live with humans, idolized them now, and that idolization gave her millions of dollars she never expected, when previously they were frequently overcharged and abused.

She didn't know what to do...she wasn't even sure she could see it. Nobody else had, afterall, and the barrier was in an easily accessible location. With the locket around her neck, she took her super full backpack stuck in the side car, she carefully drove her motorcycle to the small garage at the base.

She had bought the whole location, originally just government owned unclaimed land. It had cut her fortunes in half, but that wasn't going to stop her. They were going to tear it down for a highway, but the money she spent on it allowed them to go around the mountain instead.

And so Frisk had no regrets. As she pulled in, she pat the motorcycles seat fondly, looking around. The garage was empty, and really did have more room than she thought. The young lady decided then she could probably put more supplies here, and not have to worry about lugging it back and forth as much.. maybe a shelf with some tea, and some books, and.. She shrugged, her mind out of ideas at the moment.

She was excited, but so very scared. Slipping on her backpack, she locked up the garage and started up the mountain. All she could think of was ..

As she hit the winding path that led to the ledge overlooking the barrier, she was almost afraid to turn, what she would see. Would the barrier even be visible..?

She turned, and sighed in a painful explosion of relief. It WAS visible, and shimmered with a rainbow over glass, like quartz. Still, if Frisk focused just right, the barrier wasn't distracting. It was fairly deep in the cave, though, and she felt saddened by that.

How long had they been tortured with the view of the world just out of reach? She pulled out her electric lantern, and walked in carefully. Until she was sure of her reception, she wasn't going to make any further moves.

Frisk wasn't going to fall through the barrier. She had too much she wanted to say, and Asgore would kill her on sight. So standing two yards away, she started yelling.

"KING ASGORE! KING ASGORE!" she called, for hours. Her throat began to go hoarse, and then, when the sun set, she couldn't speak any longer. Her hands shook in weariness, and she carefully spread out her sleeping bag, pulling out her licensed Sans doll.

She looked at its white eyes and chuckled, ignoring her raw voice. All things aside, as far as the fan items go, that was one thing she was glad she allowed. She rolled her eyes at the creativity and perverseness of people. The only things she had ever really sued for, were when they tried to make Undertale sex toys..

The rest of it though, seeing it around made her feel less.. she rubbed her thumb over Sans teeth and chuckled again.. bonely. Even though it was weird, especially the cosplays. That it only took a half a year for an Undertale convention to start up bewildered her, but touched her heart. Her friends were loved, even if they would never know it.

She knew there would be hundreds of souls that would come to break the barrier, but it was a suicidal and romantic notion, and she didn't think she could ever be the one to cause another's death again.

She curled up, dimmed the lantern, and went to sleep. Heavy footsteps made her slowly slip away, and she looked up to the barrier, easily seeing the large King looking down at her with an unreadable expression.

It wasn't the first time she had a dream like this, her loved ones looking down, and judging her. Still feeling like she was asleep, she mumbled.

"..Dad..?" and slowly drifted back to sleep.

When she woke up and saw the footprints in the soil around the barrier, she knew it hadn't been a dream. She hoped.. But the days past, and no one came.


	4. Chapter 4

_A.N. Some background, and some feels._

 **Chapter 3: Home is where the heart is..**

Chara never returned, and when Frisk was about to turn 15, she decided to take a sabbatical. She packed up all her books, a bunch of travel photo books, a 4G tablet with a plug in solar charger, and the biggest variety of history she could.

Her plan was to come back once a week, to restock, bath, and take care of home necessities. It was ironic.. the same world that had made it so hard for monsters to live with humans, idolized them now, and that idolization gave her millions of dollars she never expected, when previously they were frequently overcharged and abused.

She didn't know what to do...she wasn't even sure she could see it. Nobody else had, afterall, and the barrier was in an easily accessible location. With the locket around her neck, she took her super full backpack stuck in the side car, she carefully drove her motorcycle to the small garage at the base.

She had bought the whole location, originally just government owned unclaimed land. It had cut her fortunes in half, but that wasn't going to stop her. They were going to tear it down for a highway, but the money she spent on it allowed them to go around the mountain instead.

And so Frisk had no regrets. As she pulled in, she pat the motorcycles seat fondly, looking around. The garage was empty, and really did have more room than she thought. The young lady decided then she could probably put more supplies here, and not have to worry about lugging it back and forth as much.. maybe a shelf with some tea, and some books, and.. She shrugged, her mind out of ideas at the moment.

She was excited, but so very scared. Slipping on her backpack, she locked up the garage and started up the mountain. All she could think of was ..

As she hit the winding path that led to the ledge overlooking the barrier, she was almost afraid to turn, what she would see. Would the barriar even be visible..?

She turned, and sighed in a painful explosion of relief. It WAS visible, and shimmered with a rainbow over glass, like quartz. Still, if Frisk focused just right, the barrier wasn't distracting. It was fairly deep in the cave, though, and she felt saddened by that.

How long had they been tortured with the view of the world just out of reach? She pulled out her electric lantern, and walked in carefully. Until she was sure of her reception, she wasn't going to make any further moves.

Frisk wasn't going to fall through the barrier. She had too much she wanted to say, and Asgore would kill her on sight. So standing two yards away, she started yelling.

"KING ASGORE! KING ASGORE!" she called, for hours. Her throat began to go hoarse, and then, when the sun set, she couldn't speak any longer. Her hands shook in weariness, and she carefully spread out her sleeping bag, pulling out her licensed Sans doll.

She looked at its white eyes and chuckled, ignoring her raw voice. All things aside, as far as the fan items go, that was one thing she was glad she allowed. She rolled her eyes at the creativity and perverseness of people. The only things she had ever really sued for, were when they tried to make Undertale sex toys..

The rest of it though, seeing it around made her feel less.. she rubbed her thumb over Sans teeth and chuckled again.. bonely. Even though it was weird, especially the cosplays. That it only took a half a year for an Undertale convention to start up bewildered her, but touched her heart. Her friends were loved, even not by her.

She knew there would be hundreds of souls that would come to break the barrier, but it was a suicidal and romantic notion, and she didn't think she could ever be the one to cause another's death again.

She curled up, dimmed the lantern, and went to sleep. Heavy footsteps made her slowly slip away, and she looked up to the barrier, easiy seeing the large King looking down at her with an unreadable expression.

It wasn't the first time she had a dream like this, her loved ones looking down, and judging her. Still feeling like she was asleep, she mumbled.

"..Dad..?" and sowly drifted back to sleep.

When she woke up and saw the footprints in the soil around the barrier, she knew it hadn't been a dream. She hoped.. But the days past, and no one came.

The end of the week came, and her food ran out, so with a heavy heart, she stood. On a whim, she pushed the locket through the barrier. It was a scary test, because what if her hand got stuck? But as she pulled her hand back through the barrier, she realized if she kept the majority of her body- and her SOUL, outside the barrier could pull out.

Her mind chewed on that thought, as she left her stuff behind, covered it with a tarp so no animal could mess with it, just in case, and went back home. Taking a shower had never felt so great. She picked up some cough drops from her medicine cabinet, along with some tylenol. Yelling -hurt-.

On her way out, she opened the closet, to get her jacket. She hadn't realized the weather was going to be so cold! The jacket was a feminine version of Sans she had gotten from a tailor.. she knew she had problems, but she wanted to capture as much of what his love felt like any moment she could.

She would never have it again, afterall. And she didn't deserve it.

As she pulled her jacket out, her fingers brushed against her old portable keyboard. It only took a second of musing before she lay her jacket on the sofa and pulled it out. It was really an old, obsolete thing. It couldn't make the music go in any digital form required, so it was more of a toy now than anything else.

But Frisk closed her eyes, thinking of how quiet and lonely the cave was. There weren't even drips that the normal cavern had, and the magic seemed to prevent echoing. Well, the keyboard did have a low power requirement...and if she got a converter on her way out, she could use the solar charger.

0000

The locket was gone, but no one came.

Sitting in front of the barrier, just a yard away this time, she sat the keyboard down and pulled out her music sheet book, and she started working on the two songs she never wanted to touch before.

The first song was the most painful.. the music that represented the failure she made with Sans, his righteous anger, and the desertion of hope.

The other she had made a promise to never publish, so never had the need.. It was Mettaton's song, Death by Glamour. She wasn't going to steal his work, after he had worked so terribly hard.

She had used a fake song for Mettaton's music in the fandom- she wasn't going to steal his song no matter what.

But it was one of the songs she remembered most fondly, when her dreams had been full in her heart, and her passion came out in dance.

As she practiced it, trying to get it right, she flushed. She may had only been 8, but she had the biggest puppy love crush on Mettaton for like EVER. In fact, the first word she ever spoke, and the last one for years, had been when Mettaton was answering calls on her lap. The first word, as he started to power down, was "...beautiful."

Papyrus was the only one who found out, and innocent or not, they teased each other back and forth over their crush. They had fanboy/girl moments. After awhile, Frisk realized it was a superficial feeling- especially when she saw Papyrus crush fade into a fond, sensitive love.

And she was so happy it was reciprocated..

But the song still brought back the ecstatic passion she had, the feelings of belief her SOUL once felt so clearly. It was the closest thing to a counterbalance for working on Sans song that she had.

Creating songs was always so difficult for her, and it was after another fail on Sans song, filled with the despair from those days coupled with frustration at her not being good enough, that she turned on her mp3 player, and listened to Memories, curled around her Sans doll, hood over her head, as tears overflowed her eyes down her cheeks.

She didn't notice the same footsteps that woke her from her dreams the week previous slowly walk down the tunnel, and she didn't see as Asgore knelt by the barrier, looking at the crying child. She didn't see as the angry eyes of Asgore watched the pitiful sobbing, taking in her form again, listening to the song that came from Asriel's music box come from the little phone on the ground beside her

Frisk never did wear another striped shirt, ever again, and she usually wore blue if she could. She didn't wear her hair in a bob anymore, and she didn't really like short hair, so she kept a braid down to her butt now, almost all the time. It was messy, and tied with an purple bow. A purple bow that was wound up the braid itself, and clipped in with the royal seal.

So she didn't see as Asgore's eyes softened, and became a little sad. She didn't see as he reached out to stroke her hair, and in a quiet, mournful moment, touched the barrier, and looked at his hand like he had never seen it before.

But she did hear him speaking to her softly.

"..Child.. my child?"


	5. Chapter 5

_A.N. Hey guys, here is your chapter. Thank you for the support_

 _ **Warning:**_ _Slight mentions of suicide, vague hints of abuse._

 **Chapter 4: The Story is Told**

She turned her face up at the barrier, and saw him watching her. Frisk didn't even think, she flung herself at the barrier- and thankfully, tripped immediately on her sleeping bag, coming face first down.

Only her head had made it through the barrier, and it was resting on Asgore's knee. He could have killed her easily then, and in a moment of aching pain, the familiar scent of her dad around her, she thought that maybe that was okay.

But a padded hand came down on her head, and pet it. The tears in her eyes came outright, as her father hummed with the music box, and she wept. Her voice, coming back, spoke quietly. She felt so very young again, for the first time in forever she felt her age.

"Daddy.. I want to go home.. and save everyone again.." She lifted herself up, and tried to push herself through the barrier, but Asgore stopped her, and with careful hands, pushed her back out. She tried again, and she was carefully pushed back out.

This happened many times, and Frisk didn't know why. Surely, her dad would want to free everyone? He didn't know her. He'd get sick of it, and give up. A day went by, and she kept trying. She stopped trying, and stared for a day, because surely he'd leave and she could try again.

But he seemed to be stronger in heart than her, and on the third day she cracked, crying and sobbing all over again. "I want to go _hoooomeee_...!" she keened. Finally, Asgore responded.

".. I know you aren't Chara, but I can't hurt my child," he told her. "Even if I don't know you."

The silence persisted for ten minutes, before the girl opened her backpack, pulling out the books she wrote, and the journals filled with the rest of their peaceful life.. the ones she never dare publish.

Pushing them through the barrier, she finally spoke, subdued.

"..My name is Frisk Dreemur, and this is my story."

And picking up the first book as if it was a delicate piece of glass, he picked it up, and started to read.

 **0000**

Asgore closed the last book, a journal, that ended with the childs death of old age, and asked the question that haunted him through the entire story.

"How do you know this?" he asked the girl, Frisk. Her eyes grew haunted and sad, and she ran her hands down her braid. It seemed to be a nervous habit, he thought. Chara had one too, he remembered. She would bite her lip excessively- once even biting through it. Asgore was glad this one was less harmful to the childs health.

Her eyes fell to the ground, and she seemed heavy with shame. Frisk opened her mouth once, closed it. Opened it again..

She looked at him, **DETERMINED**. "I gave up Dad," she finally admitted. "My dreams came to an end on that bed and my determination failed.. and then.." she shuddered.

 _"Chara,"_ the girl said, quietly.

"..Chara..?" he said in stunned horror, reluctant to know more.

"Her death killed her soul, but not her spirit, and determination," Frisk finally told her. "Just.. imagine a hurt, angry little girl, with god-like powers, no moral limitations, and a grudge against the world."

Asgore could only stare as he pray the words would stop flooding through her mouth.

"She took my place, and I watched as she restarted the world, going on a rampage.. everyone.. mom.. Sans.. you.." Frisk continued. "Over and over. Over and fucking over."

She was growing pale and shuddering, and while he wanted her to stop, even to scold her for cussing, he couldn't move.

"And then.. I stopped it. I.." she looked away, more shame on her face. "I got control for a blessed few minutes and ended myself. And my **DETERMINATION** to stop the cycle ended it."

Under his fur, Asgore was pale. Suicide was unheard of in the Underground, more than a taboo, and was considered the ultimate form of grief. That was what essentially took Asriel away..

"I woke up in bed, instead of the flowers, and I tried again," at this, she gave him a weak smile, and shrugged. "I was afraid, for a long time. Chara was there.."

"But I couldn't make her go away- no, I didn't want to," she quietly continued. The king couldn't tell what to feel there.

"There was a lot she didn't tell you about her life out here," Frisk told him solemnly. "And I've viewed most of it. I.." she looked away there. "I wanted her to know there was kindness, and I had the **DETERMINATION** to keep her subdued, especially since the god powers wouldn't really come back till I came back here.."

At that, Asgore jumped in mild horror. Frisk flailed her hands anxiously.

"No no, that's not an issue now!" she exclaimed, and Asgore forced himself to calm, motioning for her to get on with it.

"She.. I took care of her, the best I could," she told Asgore. Frisk frowned sady. "She didn't know what to make of it- and honestly, neither did I." Her eyes looked out towards the sky, where the sun was beginning to set, filling the cave opening with a warm glow.

A long moment passed, before Frisk spoke again. "In the end, it was her that did the greatest kindness," she said quietly. "She _let go_.."

Frisk put her hand petting her braid on her exposed shoulder, the jacket slumped around her waist.

"..Chara is gone now, isn't she?" Asgore said sadly. "We pressed her too hard.. we told her it was her job. Never straight out, but it was implied, and she heard the whispers. I.. I did this myself."

A hand reached out and clasped his paw on his knee. "No Dad," Frisk told him. "The only people to blame were the so-called sages that sealed the barrier. And they are gone, having paid years ago, no longer in memory except as villians to a story that everyone idolizes."

A shocked chuckle of mirth left Asgore. "You _published_ these?!" He covered his face, laughter shaking his shoulders, in a great relief of agony, as a silly sense of joy flooded him.

Frisk huffed, her face going pink, as she crossed her arms, pouting. She looked away, indignant, and as he finally calmed and looked at her, the expression she had on her cute face had him breaking out in hilarious laughter again.

Finally he calmed, breathing, watching her with his eyes twinkling. "You silly girl," he said, smiling, automatically reaching, but before she caught him, still full of mirth as she finally turned at him with a puff, rolling his eyes.

She really was a teenager, he realized. All her knowledge and years, and she was a 15 year old, trying her hardest to be an adult.

When she spoke, it was with great force he didn't laugh again.

"Well.. at least its made the monsters _**popular**_ _,_ " she grumbled. He raised his eyebrows, finally looking inside the cover at the back, piles of awards on it.

A solemn air crushed down on him, as she watched the light fade from the tunnel.

"I'll... set up the money.. I've got a lot.. buy some land.." She muttered to herself, unaware he could hear every word. "This could work, I could set it up flawlessly.. and then when they take my soul and get out.. everyone would be completely safe this time."

And in a rush of righteous anger, Asgore let out a booming word.

 **"NO."**

Frisk turned, obviously startled he had overheard her. "B-but..!"

A soft smile crossed his face. "No Frisk," he said to her, his heart reflecting on the two children who tried so hard to save them and died, his own children. He could never do it again.

"I won't let you do this, and I won't let you do this to someone else," Asgore said, his belief in good slowly returning. "You don't have to coat yourself in sins for our sake.."

Tears began returning to her eyes. "But Daddy, I'm already ruined," Frisk said, sobbing, and rubbing at her eyes.

He only put his hand next to the barrier, palm down, in offering. And a petite hand reached through, callused with her work shown in her fingers from the pencils and instruments, lay on his. His hand closed and he lay his other hand over hers.

"Sweet child... it's not your fault," Asgore told her earnestly. And her hand tightened around his, trembling. She didn't let go, and he murmured that to her all night, as she lay leaning against the wall, before falling asleep.

And when she woke up, she felt a little more whole. It wasn't home.. but it was close.


	6. Chapter 6

_A.N. It's going to be a mix of sweet and bittersweet. Soon we'll have some new characters to play with._

 _ **Warning:**_ _Contains vague mentions of date-rape drugging and implications of further abuse._

 **Chapter 5: Falling**

Underground seemed to change, ever so slightly. Frisk would bring books, travel brochures, even at one point a laptop where they watched stuff together.

They laughed, they cried, they shared life stories and great hopes.

It wasn't an uncommon sight in the underground to see their King actually leaving his home and throne room sometimes, a book in hand, flipping through it. Sometimes a picture book, other times a heavy tome, even novels.

Alphys watched these changes, and wished that she had cameras in his personal quarters, because curiosity was killing her. But she saw his lightened burden, and wondered, but said nothing.

And Undyne, when reporting in, caught a glimpse of a picture frame with an illustration of a gathering that never happened. And if she wondered about it, and the small human in the picture, the fond contentness in his eyes meant more, so she wondered, but said nothing.

And if Papyrus got a huge package with a bunch of spaghetti cooking books and printed recipes, stamped with the royal seal, and grew excited and thrilled, Sans tensed, and for years later watched for the inevitable, only for it not to come.. and though he wondered, he said nothing.

 **000000000000**

The year passed on, with regular visits. Even if they missed each other, they always left a note.

On her 16th birthday she told Asgore she was going to go back to college. She wanted to something important with her life, so she was going back to medical college. She motioned in joy as she explained her ideas to open up private free clinics for people that were being treated with hatred based on discrimination.

The plight of the monsters in that first life had stuck with her a long time, and she had drive to make good things happen.

So, they set up a meeting schedule. College was sort of far, but she could afford the plane trips back and forth.

So she went off.. and disappeared. Asgore went to the same spot every day, waiting for her, patiently, but he began to fear.

Finally he spent most the day there, his heart hurting, praying his child would come. Internally he called out for her.

And with quite, tired steps, she came.

Sitting next to the barrier, she answered none of his questions. He got angry, and yelled. And she curled in on herself, but did not respond.

Finally, he mourned and sat down too, leaning against the wall. A quiet hour passed, when a small hand grasped Asgore's robe, and he looked up to see her crying in anguish.

"Daddy.."

 **000000000000**

College did not go as planned, Frisk remembered, as she carefully, slowly walked up the mountain. She didn't dare take her motor bike- not now. Not with her condition.

It ended so badly, so fast. She was hanging out at the campus rec area. Since she was just 16, she didn't drink, although her new friends had pushed her to try. They seemed nice, but seemed to set her ill at ease.

Especially Brad, he kept staring at her. He was 24, and for some reason he seemed to think Frisk being emancipated meant she was old enough..

As she curled up on the shabby sofa, she worked on the homework from her mentally straining, headache inducing classes, she saw someone lean over to her.

"Hey, babe, you okay?" Brad said cheerily. She smiled up at him. "Yeah, med school is just so much harder than I thought, but tibia honest I'm glad I can learn more anatomy- my bone jokes will skyrocket a skele-ton."

Brad grimaced. "Babe, I know you like Undertale," he started. She jumped and stared at him, eyes started.

"I mean you gotta, having changed your name to Frisk when emancipated," he continued. Her eyes lidded in digust. Frisk was not quite sure where people had got that idea, but it kept them away from the true knowledge.

"But you gotta stop being so in character! Plus, wasn't Frisk mute?" he ended. Her smile went tight.

"I thought you hated that series," she said, her voice in strained cheer.

"Well yea," Brad complained, rolling his eyes. "Monsters would be awful, especially skeletons, ew!" The edges of her mouth twisted, but she refused to let him make her frown.

"...Please let me return to studying," she bit out. He started to realized he had crossed a line, and he huffed.

"Come on," he complained impatiently. "It's just a stupid book!"

She closed her eyes, and he was unaware how under the lid, her eye started glowing blue.

"If you don't leave me alone.. **you're going to have a bad time,"** she said, her smile eerily large. She heard a growl, a odd thunk, and then footsteps storming off.

When she realized the room was empty, she opened her eyes, the blue fading slowly. That happened every time she was pissed off, now, and hiding it had become more difficult. She tried colored contacts, and those didn't work. So she claimed light sensitivity, and wore an eyepatch in public with other humans.

She had forgotten it today, and after having it hid so much, it was partially true- The lights in here didn't help her headache. She carefully picked up her golden flower tea, kneading her forehead.

The motion didn't soothe her head very well, so she sipped her tea. It tasted a little funny, she thought. She shouldn't have let it cool down so much. Her headache eased, going a little numb. Weird, she thought. The tea never worked that fast before.

But then her fingers went numb, and the mug dropped. And then her vision started darkening, and she started to fall over. The last thing she remembered seeing was the flash of a smile and someone leaning over her.


	7. Chapter 7

_A.N._ _Some sads, some happies._

 _ **Warning:**_ _Vague mentions of sexual abuse_

 **Chapter 6: Awakening Soul**

When she next woke up, it had been a month. She ached a little, but overall felt well, and wasn't quite sure why she was in the hospital. She would find out an hour later, and it would never be the same.

Frisk was quietly flipping through a magazine. No one had left her anything worth anything to do in here- they probably hadn't planned for her to wake up. She wasn't about ready to push the call button.. if something was wrong, she wanted to wake up completely before she heard it.

Why hospitals left stupid little business magazines in here, she never knew. No one liked them! When she opened up her own clinic, she was going to add a little variety! And if people stole them, well, she could afford to replace them, for sure.

When the nurse came in, though, the world shifted on its axis with one sentence.

After taking her vitals, and asking after her health, the nurse flipped through the chart. "Well, it looks like everything is good. You and the baby are fine," the woman assured. "Let me get the doctor and get you signed out."

It was as if the entire area of Snowdin dripped down her as ice flooded her system.

"WHAT!?" she shrieked. "BABY?!" She grabbed the panic button, pushing it over and over. "HELP! HELP!" Frisk cried out, mentally in shrill terror.

The doctor arrived, took one look at the nurse, and started yelling at her. Security arrived, and the nurse was escorted out of the building by force, as she cried "I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

But Frisk caught the gist of why- Brad had.. And she started crying into her hands.

The doctor, a older women, took her hand, and coaxed her into calming down, explaining that Brad was arrested, and probably never going to get out, because he had done this to others as well- just never in a publically recorded place.

At that Frisk huffed in bitter humor. "Lucky me, right?" The doctor shook her head mournfully, and explained her options.

Frisk.. never wanted to end another life. Ever.

"That won't ever be an option," she told the doctor. "I will love that child." And she didn't make promises she couldn't keep either, with her hand over her slightly swollen stomach.

Frisk was able to talk her way out of counselling, and carefully withdrew from college till further notice. As she climbed up the mountain, initially full of hope, she grew more and more ashamed.

Monsters didn't do casual sex, afterall, and she wasn't sure if her father would understand..

She reached the cave, and her father was sitting there, dozing, and miserable looking. Her steps had him standing up in a rush, looking worried and furious. As she slid down the cave wall, she allowed him to yell at her, scold her, plead with her.

Frisk shrunk in on herself, until things grew quiet. And hearing her exhausted father doze again, hesitantly reached out. She pulled back, several times. She didn't deserve his comfort. But.. she realized, she knew her father. He would never judge her for something that wasn't her fault- he proved that once already.

So she took out and grasped his robe.

"Daddy.."

 **0000**

It took awhile to explain it to her father- most of which was long silents as she processed what she was saying for the first time. Asgore realized early on that anger wasn't going to make this any easier on her, even anger at this Brad person.

"Oh Frisk.." Asgore sighed, wishing ever more he could reach through the door to comfort his daughter. Because over the past few years, she really had grown to be that close to him. "So.. you are keeping it?"

She brushed her hand over her swelled stomach. "I want to keep her, Dad," she murmured. "I know that means I won't be able to start my clinic as a doctor.. but maybe I can fund one."

Asgore rubbed his eyes tiredly, before dropping his paw. "You know you won't be able to travel here for awhile," he told her steadily. "If you fall, that's it, for both of you."

Frisk looked surprised, as if she hadn't thought about it. "Yea, I guess you're right," she murmured sadly. But her eyes brightened, at an idea. "I'll be back!" she chirped, suddenly excited, as she rushed to her backpack.

She had kept it for emergancies..but this heavy, solid, satellite phone would be perfect. It was solar powered, and if she remembered correctly, it would stay charged a long time, with the light on the flower garden, the cracks giving just a little sunshine, she explained to him, handing it over.

Asgore looked at it, surprised, and a little unsure if it could even cross through the barrier. She slipped it in, and gave him her cell number.

Asgore called Frisk..

..and it rang!

They tested it a few more times,with him even going all the way to the flower garden. It worked up until the point he tried to go further than the throne room, but that was okay.

0000000000000000

It wasn't okay, he realized. She had left, and he left it out all day, but even still, for every 5 percent it left, only 3 would return.

The second call explained that briefly, and they came to a schedule of sorts. Once a week, 20 minutes a day.

That worked for two months.. and then winter came, and the sunshine was gone even longer. The barrier protected from cold.. but wouldnt do anything about the equinox.

Frisk pled with him not to take her phone to Alphys, pure terror in her voice at them finding out about her. He hated it, but her fear was enough to overcome that hate.

There was only one percent left on the battery, and they saved it, for two months later, on Frisk's birthday. She poured her excitement out to him, how the structuring of the clinic was going, about how she was decorating the babies room- it was definitely a girl!

Asgore asked her about the babies health, though, and she went quiet. "She'll be okay. I'm _**DETERMINED**_ ," she finally answered.

The battery started beeping, slowly, a count down to when it would finally burn out. He tried to bluster an answer out of her, but she said nothing. There was maybe thirty seconds left when she answered.

"Dad," she interrupted. "We don't have time to argue. Hang up, and I'll call when she's born, with the last few seconds." And the line went dead.


	8. Chapter 8

_A.N. This is a bit of a lighter chapter. Some character development here. New piece is introduced. Hoping you like it._

 **Chapter 7: Soft Sweet Secrets**

With a great flurry of movement Asgore turned the power on safe mode, which would keep it from draining anymore. His worry had him in the flower garden, pretty much camped out for the next two month, watching the battery charge. When there was 2 percent, 20 minutes worth of talking, he took it out of safe mode, and continued to watch.

It got up to an hour worth of talk time, and he stayed there, waiting, unwilling to leave the phone. It got to the point that the royal guard had finally bullied their commanding officer to check on him regularly and made sure he took care of himself.

It was one of those moments where Undyne was visiting what they were calling the mad king now, him sitting next to some odd device, when it rung. It was a phone, she realized shocked, as she dropped the food she had brought him with a clatter. A really weird one, but a phone.

And as the anguish left his shoulders and he stood taller, she watched the King, filled with joy once again, listen into the phone for several minutes, before putting it down on its table delicately, and grabbed Undyne in a hug.

"She's alive! She's alive!" Asgore sobbed with joy. The soldier didn't know what her mentor was talking about, but pat his arm from where he was squishing her in chest. As he pulled back, she saw he looked like a new person.

He realized then, what she had seen, and turned stern. "Please don't tell anyone what you saw." His eyes softened and he smiled. "They wouldn't understand, but its a good thing."

Undyne frowned, her sharp teeth exposed and arms crossed. "If you can explain, maybe I won't!"

Asgore turned away, arms crossed behind him in contemplation, humming. Finally he turned to her, and smiled.

"I promised not to tell or show the story, or who it is," Asgore said slowly. "But I trust you, and so I'll show you what I can."

He led Undyne to his house, leaving the flower garden he hadn't moved from in months with no hesitation.

She had passed by here, once before, but his personal room had been locked. She felt started as she walked into it. The grey tone surrounding the house was gone, here. Over the desk, a painted version of the portrait she had seen was hanging. Her eyes crossed the features.. everyone looked so happy...

She turned rapidly at the whisking sound, watching Asgore slowly bring a large book out. It was a scrapbook, and as she looked at the bookshelf, there were many scrapbooks, and piles of books she'd never seen. He turned the lamp on, over the desk, and the cover of the book was a sheet of music, with the title "Hope and Dreams".

Asgore ran her fingers over the notes. "I had to beg her endlessly for this," he said softly, only partially aware she was listening.

"Her who?!" Undyne snapped, this sense of deja vu prickling her skin, and making her anxious. In reply, he carefully opened the scrapbook.

The first page was card, for an event called Father's Day. The card seemed to have a built in frame, and it had a clear photo of a young human teenager posing with a heart shape made with her fingers.

The inside had the caption. "Love you Daddy!" hand written, with a glitty pink kiss mark on the top.

He chuckled wryly, as he started turning the pages, with her standing there stunned. Each page had that girl, sometimes pictures of locations too, scraps of letters, music sheets, and more "I wish you were here" cards than Undyne had ever seen. "She always tries to be so adult, so hard."

Asgore closed the scrapbook, and turned to Undyne. The fish woman had slowly become more and more incredulous, before exploding.

"THAT'S A HUMAN!" she snarled. "Did you have access to a human all this time?! Why haven't you broken the barrier?!"

She didn't expect the world to go dark with anger as Asgore's fury filled him. Undyne cowered, knowing she had crossed a line, but not sure where. But without warning, the darkness bled away and he huffed.

"She wouldn't want me to do that," he finally grumbled. Undyne couldn't find her words, but he must have read the question on her face, the 'why?' shrieking through her head, and his eyes dropped to the ground, saddened, before looking up her in serious contemplation.

"I don't know if you ever plan on having children, Undyne," Asgore said slowly, and she flushed with mortification at his knowing look. "But if someone ever becomes a child of your heart, even if they aren't really yours... I would never be able to do that to her."

She uncurled from herself, soothed by the room going back to a relaxed peace, as he shuffled over to the drawers, pulling out a small box, with an envelope tied to it.

"Ahh, here it is," he murmured. He handed her the box, carefully. It had a big ribbon on it, and a card gently taped to the side. The box was surrounded in some sort of surreal, shimmering blue paper, with gold fish all over the paper, looking like it was literally engraved in gold.

Undyne looked at it hesitantly, and then up at Asgore, and he nodded reassuringly. Plopping down on his bed, she slipped the letter loose, opening it. Before she pulled it out, she looked up at Asgore again, nervous for some reason she couldn't quite place.

"It's safe, Undyne," he reassured her again, and she pulled the card out. She almost dropped it, as some sort of thin metal confetti fell all over her lap, each like a star. A mirthful chuckle had her head shooting up.

Asgore had his face covered, as his shoulders shook. "Again, child?" He smiled at Undyne. "For someone who was terrified to give that to you, she sure put a lot of thought into it," he said, gesturing at the card. It was a birthday card, but when she opened it, a pop out shark sprung at her. She gasped, and dropped the card, and Asgore turned away to hide his laughter.

He didn't do a particularly good job at it, and she scowled. But it didn't last long, as she picked up the card, opening and closing it over and over, amused at the mechanics. A note fell out, a very tiny one, after the fifth attempt to open it.

Carefully, she opened the note, and her eyes went wide at the text.

"Hey,

Miss you.

Don't burn the house down again.

And visit the neighbor sometime, ok?

Wish you were here."

And the note drifted away from her hand. She scrambled to open the package, not caring that she was tearing the beautiful wrapping paper.

On the top, there was a box, and she opened it hesitantly, before flushing deeply. A gorgeous gold lizard hair comb lay upon the pillow. There was another note here-

"For your first date."

And she didn't know whether to hide the comb, or wear it. Her hands shaking, she closed the the box, hair comb still inside, and lifted the next item. It was a shonen comic she had never seen before, and as she turned the first page open, she read "This manga is read right to left." which had her blinking in bewilderment, as she'd never seen a anime in print before.

She flipped to that side, another paper fell out. This one was much bigger, and thick, and she carefully unfolded it.. To find a huge anime poster.. Of her!

In huge kanji appearing letters on the bottom, it said.

"NEVER STOP DREAMING!"

While her hands shook, she carefully folded the poster back up. She wasn't about to go over that thought with a ten foot pole. How, why, it just bewildered the mind.

Following that, she pulled out the next item.

"To make Alphys happy!" was written on the brown paper.

This she opened even more carefully, and dropped it in shock, before grabbing it quickly to make sure it wasn't damaged, sighing when it wasn't even dented.

It was an unsealed copy of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. The final VHS they needed to finish the series- and really, probably the true reason Alphys was always so angry about Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2.

It had never been opened.

The human knew them.

Closely.

Dearly.

But how?!

And Undyne wanted to storm up to him, and demand answers, but he simply spread his arms and told her "I promised." And also promised to keep her updated as far as he could.

"But.. would she be a danger?" she asked him, needing to know. He stepped back, and gestured for her to open the drawers. Presents. Piles upon presents. She flipped thru the labels, finding people she knew, and equally if not more, ones she didn't. There seemed to be a gift for each monster, for each holiday, birthday, even a few wedding anniversaries, for two years.

And odd, cushioned folder lay against the side, and she slipped it out. Asgore sighed. "Oh, that," he grumbled. She looked at him anxiously. "No no, nothing harmful. The child.. these presents were never meant to be given, but she made them up carefully, and packed them in front of me. I trust her, well, mostly. But not with her money!" He facepalmed.

"Never intended to be given.. I didn't think it was an issue.. until I pried the prices of those out of her," he grouched, sounding like.. an exasperated father. Undyne blinked, and hesitantly opened the cushioned folder.

There was a scholarship for someone named Temmie for $500,000. In the calmest manner she could, she closed the folder and slipped it back in. "Your Majesty.. what does each of those currency mean?" He peered out of his hands before dropping them with a dramatic sigh.

"Each of those currency stand for 5 gold," he complained. "When I found out she pulled that off, she got such the scolding.." He sighed.

"But she wouldn't take it back," he said sadly. "I've had to convince her multiple times not to come over here and sacrifice her soul..she wanted to so bad.. but .." He looked up, face firmed.

"Now she won't," he said decisively. Undyne hesitantly spoke up then, mixed feelings flooding her.

"Why?" she asked softly.

"Because her daughter was just born," he answered, his voice full of relief.


	9. Chapter 9

_A.N._ _Sads here, with some humor towards the end._

 _ **Warning:**_ _hints at past history, also some potential character death_

 **Chapter 8: Love Feeds Hope**

The next year or two was surreal for Undyne. They would schedule a short guard shift around the time she would call- once a month for two minutes, a quick update, nothing more, nothing less.

The next year went more surreal, though. Not only did the phone calls happen, but in a moment that lit up Asgore, she was able to deliver items now and then. Presents she had missed, mostly, new books, and a new phone, every month. Scrapbook pictures with the baby, endless scrapbook pictures.

Undyne found herself falling in love with the child, a little bit. It was natural, she thought, to see a child grow up from so small, and fall in love.

On the fourth year, Asgore got a unexpected call, outside their regular time. Undyne hadn't been there, but when another sentry passed by, they hurried her to the king- he was going mad again, they claimed, and you brought him out of it, last time. Do something!

When she got there, Asgore was throwing as much monster food into as big of a box he can pack, without any of it getting damaged. He was in a frenzy, and couldn't see anything, even running into corners and tearing himself up a little.

Undyne tried talking to him, tried touching him, even tried attacking him, but nothing broke through.

"Urrgh... " Undyne grumbled, an idea coming to her. She wasn't musical! She didn't like to sing! But.. she'd listened to Shyren enough, surely she could hum.

And with a few rough starts that had her coughing, Undyne hummed Hope and Dreams. The room went silent, and she opened her eyes, watching Asgore stare at her with flat eyes.

"You mutilated that song," Asgore grouched, and she flushed with motification and turned away. To her surprise, she was swept into a hug. "But thank you." And he began to weep.

It was brief, though, and after five minutes he pulled away, packing the food again, but careful, and slow.

"What happened..?" Undyne asked Asgore, and he stiffened, he back rigid, before he forced himself to relax.

"Melody is dying," he said softly, packing the food more.

"Who..?" she wondered. The answer sent her to her knees in despair.

"My grand-daughter," he sobbed.

 **000000000000000**

The journey up the mountain was wretchedly harder than before. Frisk had missed her father horribly, but the reason for re-uniting was painful, so painful she wanted to lay down and die.

Her mouth thinned, and she berated herself. The last time she gave up, something horrible happened. She wouldn't let herself do that, ever again. Even if it hurt! that gave her motivation to take the rest of the mountain at a jog.

When she reach the top, she was surprised that her father wasn't the only one there, and she shot Asgore a dirty look.

"Dad! You promised!" she cried out, feeling upset and betrayed.

The familiar face, Undyne, spoke up then. "Hey, hey! He didn't break any promise! I just weaseled in! I caught him talking and badgered.. but he didn't tell me anything about you, just that you knew me." Her hand came up the comb, sheepishly. She never took that lizard comb out of her hair now, just like how Alphys never took off the locket with a piece of her hair in it.

"Oh..." Frisk trailed off, smiling, sad, but relieved. She didn't have the gumption to inquire about Alphys, but hoped..

"But oh!" Undyne pulled a container of spaghetti out, and shoved it towards here, where it smashed into the barrier and fell apart.

"Well crap," Undyne grumbled, disappointed, before perking up. "Wait I forgot I packed two!" And she pulled the other one out, holding it out.

Frisk reached through, trustingly pulling the spaghetti into her side. "Thank you," she whispered. "But why?"

"I sorta got a glimpse of the kid early on," Undyne looked away, trying to be tough. "And I sorta thought, maybe, I could be Auntie Undyne?" She turned back with a familiar gleam in her eyes. "But she better not called me Aunt _**Undie**_! I'd never live it down."

And a thrill of mixed emotions flashed through Frisk, as she fell to her knees, laughing, laughs that turned into relieved sobs. She leaned towards the barrier, and in a movement that had become automatic, Asgore fell to his knees, and flipped himself around, allowing Frisk to rest against his back. Frisk wrapped her arms around her dad, sobbing.

And with little hesitation, Undyne joined them, pulling one of the arms onto the shoulder next to Asgore.

"H-hey," Undyne stuttered. "I'm sure Melody will be okay. The food will help, right?"

"I hope," murmured Frisk, half muffled by her fathers robe.

"So Frisk," Asgore started, and Undyne was hit with a wave of unease, the dejavu telling her to hug the girl and run as far away as possible, equally. She sat still, and continued to listen.

"If you are here, who is watching Melody? I didn't think you made any new friends?" he continued.

"No, dad, not since college," she murmured, and Asgore's mouth turned down. "Prison was too good for that trash," he growled angrily.

"Dad, no, you can't," she pled, and he sighed.

"You are right as ever," he acknowledge, and Undyne felt there was a large hole in her understanding. "But then, who is watching the child?"

Frisk smiled, pulling back, and they all turned to face her. Carefully, she pulled out an ear piece, and in a deliberate step of trust, handed her the ear piece to Undyne, before turning to her father.

Undyne could barely hear the response she gave Asgore, about a nursemaid, because she put the ear piece in her ear.. and could hear.

 **000000000000000**

Her name was Melody Cherish Hope, and she was 4 years old. Her mommy said she was born a lot too early, but she knew she was special because her mommy believed in her so much that her mommy made her last name Hope because Melody was her mommy's hope and so when Melody was born she could be hope for real!

She didn't know where Cherish was for, but when mommy was scolding her, her mommy called her Cherry, then swept her up for tickles and giggles.

Mommy seemed sad a lot, and Melody couldn't move much to give her mommy all the hugs her mommy needed. She knew her mommy was a secret writer, and mommy told her stories from the secret writing books, all the time. Even some nobody else knew!

It was neat her mommy had the name of the character in the book. She told her mommy that she wanted to save the monsters like the hero did in the book, and her mommy gave a small, pained smile, and told Melody she had a secret name.

Her secret name was Arial Chara Dreemur, and nobody was supposed to know it. Especially not the name Chara. But she asked her mommy if she could be called Arial, and say it was from the little mermaid, and her mommy smiled a happy happy smile, pet her head, and said yes. And thank you, for some reason..

From then on Melody only answered to Arial, it was her realist name ever. And mommy told her more stories, and showed her pictures of her grandpa. The monsters were real! But.. mommy said she can't tell, or people wouldn't understand. And maybe hurt her and mommy.

So Arial didn't tell anyone ever. Never ever ever. When her mom was gone, she still talked about her monster family to her nursemaid, but she used special nicknames so her nursemaid didnt know and was really careful.

Today she wanted to hear her mommy's stories, but Miss. Sally didn't know mommy's stories. It was a special day cuz mommy was going to see Pawpaw to see if the special food can help her move more, so she really wanted to feel closer to the family she never ever met.

"Miss. Sally! Miss. Sally!" Arial called, gasping a little. The nursemaid looked up from where she was doing embroidery. Miss. Sally was reeeeally old and didn't smile much but had a warm voice and a soft touch so that was okay.

"Yes, Melody?" she said calmly. Arial whined.

"Miss. Salllllly, I'm Arial. Arial!" she reminded. A thin grin and raised eyebrows were what she got, but Miss. Sally's eyes danced in amusement.

"Alright, Arial," she consented. "What is it that you need?"

"I wanna hear the Fluffy bunny book? Pleeease!" Arial asked needily. An amused but exasperated sigh left the nursemaids mouth.

"Again?" Miss. Sally said, in humored disdain. Arial put on her biiiggest puppy dog eyes, the one that mommy said looked like greater dog.

"Pleeeease! Unca Pappy loveses it! And I wanna be like Unca Pappy!" she complained.

"You always mention your Uncle Pappy," Miss. Sally said, a curious tone in her voice. "But I've never seen hide or hair of the man."

Arial was silent for a long moment, running what Miss. Sally said through her head, before her eyes took a keen look that she hid by looking downward. This would be perfect.. Uncle Pappy's brother would like this. Even though mommy always looked really sad talking about Sans, Arial always thought she might like him, even though his mommy cried about Sans a lot when she thought Arial wasn't looking.

"B-but.. Miss. Sally," she said, with a fake quiver in her voice. "I can't see Unca Pappy anymore...He's all bones.. underground." The fake sobs made Miss. Sally really uncomfy looking, but stammered out she would get the book.

Looking like a little imp, she grinned at the now closed door, and since she couldn't move her hands anymore, made a noise.

"Swish! Get dunked on," Arial said, giggling. "Oh..I better not tell mommy...course Unca doesn't have hide or hair.. he's a skeleton!"

 **000000000000000**

Across the country, in a cave next to the barrier, a fish woman broke down laughing.


	10. Chapter 10

_A.N. This is going to hit a hardcore sad part of the stor. Stay DETERMINED to reach the end._

 _Sorry for the late update, been a crazy few days. I think I've been a little shut-down-y. Went out and about yesterday and kept flinching from people.. It's concerning._

 _I can't really afford a doctor to mess with my meds, each visit is like $65 and well. -shrugs-_

 _Writing as a coping skill I guess?_

 _On the plus side I took some time to look up a warm sweater to wear and found one that looks like a mature version of Frisk's for cheap and 4.5 star rating.. considering Flowerfell cosplay. If I can get over this anxiety thing by Connecticon. Would anyone be interested in seeing that?_

 _I also did a huge amount of Undertale drawing, although only some of those are posted. I sort of want to do a comic of this fanfiction- I've already started on the prologue, for all of four frames I've got._

 _Again, I reiterate from previous A.N. ; this story is -done- . Its a matter of cleaning up the text and posting it. Thank you everyone, for your opinions and favorites, and even love for the story. I hope it touched everyone as it touched me._

 **Chapter 9: Downward Slide**

After calming down Undyne, who couldn't tell what she heard because she kept on laughing every time she tried to explain, they decided to leave the baby monitor with Asgore and Undyne.

Anything that would make Undyne say "Damn, I love that kid so much!" was worth sharing. Frisk also gave them the smart phone that had the built in app to use it. She had already planned to give one of the smart phones to them- she had invested highly in an experimental product- a android cell phone that was very durable and had a built in kinetic charger. Ten minutes of shaking, and it would be full.

She did not tell them the the ten thousand dollars that one phone cost- there was a reason it wasn't on market yet.

She attempted to walk Asgore through handling the phone, but it was a effort in futility. Not only was his hands a larger size than capable of the precise work needed, his tech illiteracy was a real thing.

He pouted as Undyne was handed the phone instead, all set up with a email and everything. A thought made Frisk flinch, before giving Undyne a wary grin.

"Um... I wrote books about the underground.. there are copies on there, under the name Undertale.. and um. If you read them. DON'T LOOK UP THE FAN MADE STUFF!" she blurted out louded at the end, bright red. A sneaky grin creeped across Undyne's face before she coughed, and looked perfectly innocent, except with a drip of sweat down her head.

"Of course not," she lied. "Totally not interested..!" Frisk face palmed and sighed. She was going to look, Frisk knew it.

"I know you are an anime geek, so you know some of this stuff," the woman said, dropping her hands in exasperation, rolling her eyes. "And you know that sometimes people will write stories, for instance, Dragonball Z, about the friendship of young Trunks and Goten, right? But you know there is the flip side where tentacle slash about Freeza and King Kami come out, and I know you know that. Undertale. Is. More. Popular."

And the devious smirk slipped across Undyne's face again, she threw her hands above her head and sulkingly started pulling the other food boxes through.

"..Tentacle.. slash..?" Asgore asked, leaning over to Undyne with a curious murmur. Nervous sweat broke out all over Undyne's face and her eyes twitched as she attempted and failed to give Asgore an innocent smile. His face darkened and the sweat built up more.

"Oh, yea, um, that's about.. Super cool battle attacks with vines!" she squeaked out anxiously. Asgore turned over to Frisk.

"Is that true, Frisk?" he asked her. She looked up at her father with the biggest deadpan look, before glancing over to Undyne, behind her father, motioning frantically and mouthing some begging words she didn't have to hear to understand the gist of, and a innocent smile crossed her face.

"Yea, it's spine dad, don't break a bone over it," she said, continuing to move stuff. As her dad walked over to help, Undyne sighed with relief.

A smirk so remiscenent of her kohai's brother crossed her face and she gave Undyne a devious wink when her dad wasn't looking, before starting a conversation that Undyne seemed very interested to hear.

"So I saw this new artist recently, really talented," she started with Asgore.

"Oh? What is his speciality?" he asked, not looking as he sorted what was heaviest to pass first.

She looked at Undyne againa n and her smirk grew, looking really really really familiar now. "Oh, just a musician, with a revealing new musical scale," she continued. Undyne could almost see the devil horns on the humans head form as it continued. "Seems to be a new twist on a blues song, with some unique background sound effects."

"Oh?" Asgore continued, half listening.

"Yep, seems to add cave dripping noises, and he's done an animation dance scene too," Frisk winked at Undyne, who couldn't tell if she was red and trembling with rage or embarassment.

Humans really WERE evil!

But Frisk's grin relaxed into something kinder. "But they were using some of my copyrighted content," she continued, "So I took it down."

"Good job dear," Asgore said, having not listened a bit. Frisk sat down the current box she was moving, and winked, sticking her tongue up with two thumbs up.

Nevermind! Humans were wonderful angels.

And as Frisk said her goodbyes and carefully toted stuff away, Undyne started to pull the phone out in curiosity. A shadow looming over her shoulder made her jump, and she turned to see Asgore peering at her sternly.

"..." Undyne started nervously, with a smile.

"..." Asgore stared sternly. And then pat her shoulder. "Keep me updated, okay? I don't think I could listen.. if anything went wrong." He smiled trustingly at her, and she relaxed. She could do that.

 **000000000000000**

She could, really. She listened to the baby monitor, day and night. Luckily they slept on similar schedules, and there was something comfortable about going to sleep, hearing Arial breath.

Something sweet, about Frisk telling her daughter story after story. It made her both a little more confidant with Alphys, and a lot more careful- because she knew they were meant to be together, but as she watched Alphys more, she realized there was something more there, that had her flinching at everything.

That was what finally goaded her into finishing the book, and from then on, when she passed that 'restroom' that was always out of order, her mouth always went to a flat line for several seconds.

That was how she knew how to respond when Alphys finally noticed she was wearing a headpiece and carrying around a phone more powerful than Alphys ever had a whole of.

"I can't, love," she told Alphys gently. "Its an order from the king."

"B-but you told me other things! That you weren't supposed to!" Alphys said, flushed with upset. Undyne sighed, and leaned down, kissing her forehead.

"There are some secrets that aren't your own, and others that need to be kept for the protection of others, love, and I think you know that," Undyne told her lover with an aching heart as the little lizard flinched. Undyne's eye softened, and she gave her a hug.

That evening, when she heard Frisk tuck in Arial and head to her room, she texted Frisk a plee.

It was a painful hour that Undyne had to wait, but she knew what she was asking was game changing.

Finally, she got a response.

"you can tell her."

 **00000000000000000**

Undyne was closest to her, besides her father. But Alphys was getting equally close- Especially as she'd been able to connect to Undyne's internet, scattering repeaters through the camera system so she never lost connection.

They had almost half a year, before the food stopped working. Frisk emailed medical file after medical file. Alphys tried her best, but nothing she looked at was any what genetically compatible with the disease and human dna strands. There was nothing.

When Undyne was over, sometimes they'd both listen to the baby monitor, bluetooth off, and through instant messaging, have a line of, at least half, vocal conversation. They both squeed every time Arial talked to them through the baby monitor.

Finally, Frisk got Arial a voice to text computer with simple accessibility commands. She could talk to the computer, and they'd get the text message, but also hear her over the baby monitor. Then they could message back, and it spoke back, with a really bad robotic monotone.

Alphys learned quickly to stop typing in chatspeak and cut out the emoticons entirely. It was a very hard habit to break.

Sometimes they'd be left alone with the child, to baby sit of sorts as Frisk took a shower or cooked dinner.

It was one of those days where they were joking back and forth when the talking cut off abruptly, following by desperate drowning noises.

In utter panic, Undyne grabbed the phone and used speed dial to call Frisk, almost dropping it in her fumbling terror.

"What?!" Frisk cried, equally panicked. This was a line only used for emergancies, they never used the phone to talk.

"Arial! Hurry!" Undyne snapped out. She heard a clatter as the phone hit the floor. And with an odd enough, she double heard the cries.

"Arial," they heard Frisk. "Sweetie?" The tears started. "Please breath!" A gasp came out. "She's still got a pulse!" She rushed away and they heard her call form the distant. "911! I have an emergancy! My daughter, she's not breathing!"

They heard her rush in and fall to her knees, and then the phone made a beep, and she was on speaker phone.

"Okay, calm down. I'm going to walk you through CPR," the mellow voice, distorted by the phone, told her. "Do you have any experience?" it asked.

"Yes!" Frisk bit out. "I have a terminally ill daughter, that was the first lesson I learned."

Both Undyne and Alphys hovered, Alphys shivering, and Undyne clenching her fist in frustration.

She gave Alphys a strangely steady look.

"Alphys, call Asgore and put him on speaker," she commanded, sterner than she ever had been with Alphys. The lizard steadied, calmness filling her, as she did that, and all three listened with baited breath as the 911 operater made sure Frisk kept the right CPR pace, and they heart sirens approach.

They heard something rattle in, and two men talking, running through some tests as rapidly as they could, Frisk answering questions the best she could. All three of them learned far more about the degenerative muscle disease than they ever wanted to know.

As the stretched rolled away, the silence was broken by Asgore defeatedly covering his face and letting out a prayer. "Please God, no."

And Undyne brought a sobbing Alphys into a hug, her face trembling from trying to keep back her own tears, before she couldn't anymore, and they both went to their knees, crying.

 **00000000000000000**

Asgore hadn't spoken to them since, except to order them to get him updated. They couldn't bring themselves to leave, if they wanted to. They took turns showering, and bringing food. A few times, Undyne had gone down to feed the amalgates.

After the first time, she realized they were really just sweet kind people in the from of puddles, and they really wanted to go home.

She brought that up to Alphys, who nodded, remembering the end of the book that poured out her sins.

That made things easier, later, after several weeks, when they heard the door opening on the baby monitor. There was some sort of sucking noise coming, with a quiet whining noise.

"Mommy.. can you read me the Fluffy Rabbit book..?" Arial spoke weakly.

"Of course sweetie," Frisk said, in a muted, soothing tone.

"W-wait," Arial interrupted her mother.

"Can you tell me about Pawpaw again.. "

The silence was longer this time.

"Okay sweetie," and Frisk softly told her the story about how she met the amazing Asgore, who was kind, but terribly sad. And how at the end of their battle, Asgore adopted the hero.

"That was you mommy.." Arial breathed in awe all over again. "..."

"I wanna meet Pawpaw.." she said sadly.

"You can't sweetie," Frisk denied automatically.

"I can mama..I can!" Arial started coughing, and then there was a sipping noise.

"I really can mommy, I can see everyone for real...and I can save them!"

"It'll kill you.."

"I'm dying Mommy.."

A sob came from Frisk, followed by a nonono.

"Mommy.. the other kids could make wishes.. Mommy, that's my wish," Arial went quiet after that, and Frisk's crying disappeared into sniffles, and then a small sigh.

"Okay sweetie," Frisk said. "Okay."

A deep breath was let out by both Arial, followed by Frisk.

"I'm gonna take a nap Mommy, I wanna get better so I can see Pawpaw.."

After a few minutes Frisk spoke up.

"Okay, she's asleep now. I'm going to my laptop.. we need to plan this. Undyne, if Alphys isn't already there, get her there. And don't tell Dad- If I'm going to get this done, I have to have a certain amount in motion before I tell him."

And so they gathered to plan.


	11. Chapter 11

_A.N. This is so late, I'm sorry. I'm fighting some sleep issues, and tbh they are getting overwhelming. Reading a lot seems to help. I'll try to get the next one out soon. This chapter is fairly short but that's because its a building brick to the next one._

 **Chapter 10: Read to Continue**

They had two weeks to finish the first step. It was a precaution, but they were already in the mindset to do so- The amalgates were reunited with their family, with no real stumbling blocks- just as the story had implied.

The next step is when loud helicopter flew over head, the pilot having been paid off, to lower two hundred small crates into the crack around the waterfall dump. He didn't know what was in them, didn't care really, and would never mention them again- he was part of the black market contractors, afterall. Frisk had to pull some real strings for that.

Undyne called the other guards to help, but lay the biggest burden on Papyrus- because as silly as he was, he was the only one with the charisma to make it work, and to go to the right sources.

 **00000000000**

"SANS. . . ? " Papyrus questioned hesitantly.

"what pap..?" Sans said, from his lazy slouch on the sofa. Papyrus had been given a whirlwind of change, over a decade ago, that only recently was slipping into what felt was normal again.

Suddenly, as if Sans was another person, he joked less, hovered more, and started training, as if his own strength could never be enough.

A week ago, Sans came back from Grillbyz, posture tense and a wide smile.. too wide.

"isnt it cool pap.." he said, looking out the window at the slow snowflakes. "...the monsters that Alphys saved are finally going home.."

Papyrus was reluctant to say something, as the window started to reflect a blue glow ominiously, but this was his brother, and something was throwing him off again, so he gave his brother a surprisingly tender hug.

That was a week ago, and he had finally started calming down again.. and Papyrus didn't want to ruin it again.. but he really needed help.

"UNDYNE NEEDS ME TO MOVE SOME BOXES AND DISTRIBUTE SOME BOOKS ! ! ! " Papyrus finally said. " BUT SHE HAS TOO MANY BOXES FOR ME TO CARRY ALONE FROM HER HOUSE TO HERE ! ! ! "

"uh, okay. why cant she just mail it?" Sans asked.

"I ASKED HER THAT AS WELL- SHE SEEMED TO THINK IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT ! ! NYEH HEH HEH ! I MIGHT GET A POSITION IN THE ROYAL GUARD AFTER ALL ! ! ! " Papyrus was excited- but he also was smarter than anyone gave him credit for, and if it was going to get Sans off his lazy butt, he didn't mind playing the "your younger brother has a dream" card.

Sans eyes closed, and he was quiet a long moment.. before snoring.

"SANS ! ! ! " Papyrus cried out. "STOP NAPPING , YOU LAZY BONES ! ! YOU DID THAT ALL NIGHT ! ! "

Sans eyes opened, and a genuine smile crossed his face. "i think that's called sleeping," he said, chuckling.

"AUGH SANS ! ! FINE . . I'LL DO IT MY SELF ! ! ! " Papyrus grumbled, pulling his scarf tighter.

Sans rose, a light of anxiousness in his eyes, unseen.

"na bro, i can help," Sans said. Papyrus slid suspicious eyes over.

"YOU NEVER HELP . . . "

"tibia-nest you never seem to need it..you are really a cool bro," Sans said sincerely.

"WOWIE ! ! Y-YOU THINK . . ! WAIT . SANS . TIBIANEST YOUR PUNS NEED TO STOP ! ! ! " Papyrus started with sparkling eyes, before scowling at him.

"bro, never change," Sans said, a genuine smile on his face. Sans hadn't needed to take this shortcut in awhile, but arrived directly in front of Undyne's house, Papyrus beside him.

There were rows of boxes around, being distributed equally. Mettaton was even there, hovering, no literally, keeping an eye on things, and Papyrus flushed, before remembering he had a job to do.

Only four boxes were labeled Papyrus, and Pap himself took one, Sans floating the others behind him.

Sans barely caught the dirty look Undyne flashed him, and found himself off put as they arrived directly in their living room. Sans started going up the stares, unnerved and wanting to calm down, when Papyrus opened the first box.

"WOWIE ! ! SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT ME ? ? ? " the tall skeleton cried out excitedly. Sans stopped, still, before moving as fast as one as his shortcuts, and grabbing a book out.

 **'UNDERTALE'** the cover said, with familiar illustrations. **'Special Freedom Complete Edition.'** His eyes slowly ran down to the author name at the bottom.

 _ **'By Frisk Dreemur.'**_

And with shaking fingers, he turned the page, twice, because the first was just inane publishing facts, to the dedication note.

 _"Dedicate to my daughter,_

 _Arial Chara Dreemur,_

 _In whom freedom is coming."_

He sat down on the floor with a slump, his legs not wanting to hold him up anymore. He opened it, and began to read.


	12. Chapter 12

_A.N. I hate the fact I'm dropping all these tiny chapters, but the way they break up are for impact. This whole chapter is meant to focus on one point.. its pretty sad. ;;w;;_

 **Chapter 11: The Story Spreads**

Around the underground, the books were read. With a fine payment, Muffet even smuggled them to the ruins, leaving them in random corners of the ruins.

Each of them finished the final page with different emotions, especially with the post note.

There was a large pamplet worth of magazine printed pages on the back. This was perhaps why it was so large and heavy, having not only the books but these pictures.

The first page had a picture of a little girl in a restraining wheelchair, smiling up at an young woman with a tired, loving smile, both in outfits that were obviously human spinoffs of the royal robes.

 **"Hello, everyone. My name is Frisk Dreemur, and no one remembers me, but I remember you. And I miss everyone a ton! "**

There was a very small bone print next to that word, and almost everyone knew the rest of that joke.

 **"It took a long time to grow up enough to make a difference. I wrote my books, because I was lonely,"** another bone was stamped here. **", and well, it sort of went crazy!"**

A picture of an Undertale convention line was shown, people in monster costumes everywhere. Another picture of an art booth, with giant foam Floweys, and other toys based on characters.

 **"People seem to love monsters a lot now."** There was a picture of people listening to music next to a picture of the the cover illustration, the title UNDERTALE MUSIC OST. One had a red scarf over a cool dude t-shirt, another had a long blank hoodie on, with a dancing Nappstablook outlined in white, and another had a hat that looked like Temmie ears.

 **"Sometimes too much."**

There was a line of pictures where a paper cut out of Mettaton was standing, but being kissed, by a different person, slowly wearing down, before finally the picture was mostly whited out by a diagonal bar and the letters **"oops!"** in the bar.

On the bottom was a small sentence, and you could almost hear the embarassment.

 **"In hindsight I may not have planned this too well."**

On the next page there was another photo of the two, this time with the woman, Frisk, looking awfully embarassed, and the girl laughing. The position made it obvious now, that there were strange indents on her face, and a tank strapped to the chair, next to her.

 **"BUT UH. If we work together, we can figure it out, right?"**

The next page had a picture of a hand brushed over the girls head, close up on the happy smile. You could see the clear hoses in her nose, and the way the wheelchair was build to make sure she would be able to sit up.

 **"This is my daughter Arial. Dad made me promise not to give my soul to break the barrier.. and I didn't. I wanted to, very much. But he also made me promise not to get somene else, because I don't ever want to hurt anyone ever again."**

The next was a grey, blurry pic, that was obviously taken by a poor video camera, possibly a security camera, where the little girl was in a hospital bed, and Frisk was curled over her, obviously in tears, as a doctor walked out with a clipboard.

 **"But.. I hate this, but its true. My daughter was diagnosed with a severe muscular disease. She's got maybe two months to live.. and her final wish is to be there, with you, as long as possible, to see the family of her heart. Don't you dare hurt her..."** the corner of the page was gradient into black, and the photo on the next page was fairly horrifying.

 _ **"...or you're going to have a bad time."**_ It was a close up of her face, her hair floating around her head with magic, the darkness stroking as her flamed blue, the other a dark hazel. The corner gradiented into white and the page turned with relief into a lighter face, the woman floating with an innocent smile.

 **"Don't worry, I'm not going to break my promise and hurt anyone."**

The page turned to two pictures overlapping, bleeding over two page as a full spread, both candid pictures. First, was one where Asgore and Frisk sat side by side, flipping through baby pictures in a first step scrapbook. The picture had been taken from behind, so you could clearly see Asgore leaning against the barrier, and Frisk into his shoulder, hand against his arm as he turned the page.

The second one had Undyne obviously having been caught being 'soft,' surprised, with an embarassed blush, and the open book held defensively against her chest.

In small, clear print along the bottom center, was this. _**"Don't have to."**_

The last picture had a picture of Arial propped in a hospital bed, with her mom on one side, holding her daughter to her side as they read _"Peek-a-Boo with Fluffy Bunny"._

 **"But really, please don't hurt her. She has wanted to go since she has been able to talk.."**

and under that was a picture of all things, a print out. It was zoomed out, a little wobbly, and the tear splatters blurred the ink in some places, but it was clear enough.

 _'Prognosis: Terminal: 8-12 weeks to live.'_

 **".. she doesn't have much time left."**

The final picture was just of the girl talking to her mom, as her mom packed her bags carefully, the shine in her eyes clear to anyone old enough to understand loss as she smiled a reassuring, fragile grin at her daughter. The girl was so lit up in pleasure, everyone could imagine her jabbering a mile a second.

 **"I won't get to be there to tell her goodbye.. So please make it special?"**

On the bottom was some decorative gibberish, but hidden carefully in it, was a script Sans hadn't seen in years. Not since he taught Frisk the code his father had taught him.

His eyes were black as his vision traced the two sentences again and again, as if it would tell him something different. Each time it said the same thing. And his eyes closed. He didn't want to see it. He didn't want to acknowledge it.

He saw it burnt into his skull, and for once in hundreds of years, he remembered the old lady who held his hand as she died and tried to sign words he already knew into his hands, that he never had the courage to act on.

 _ **"I'm sorry Sans."**_ The code read. _**"In another lifetime, she would have been yours."**_


	13. Chapter 13

_A.N. This one is unfortunately super short, and sorta depressing, but the next piece will be significantly longer. Stay DETERMINED_

 **Chapter 12: History**

There was a lot of arguing, some blaming, some crying, and some consoling between the three ones originally 'in the know', before Asgore finally agreed. He knew he was going to, in the end, and he also knew that he would have tried as hard as possible to fight it, as well, delaying it till it was too late.

He would have never forgiven himself from taking away his grand-daughter's last wish. His hands flipped through the last few pages, looking at the picture of his daughter and granddaughter in rule garb. His eyes trailed down to the name, and he huffed, amused.

Frisk was such a brat, he thought to himself laughingly. Giving her father Melody, no, Arial's, legal name, as misdirection. One of the few times he caught Frisk on the phone, he asked her about that pretty pointedly, and heard her huff in embarassment.

"Both her names were meant with meaning, and I'm not telling you what her true name means," she sulked, over the phone. He was already pretty sure, though.

"Oh hey, here comes Undyne's friend, he's training to be a squire right now," he said in a boisterous voice. "Maybe I should ask this good skele-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" she squealed, and he pulled the phone away from his ear with a wince.

"Ah, it amazes me how clear this phone gets," he chuckled. "Don't worry, sweetie. The boy's not really here, and I won't tease you anymore. I'll see you soon."

They said their goodbyes, and ended the call. Undyne had her eyes closed tired, shoulders slumped.

"Ah.. it's not the silly one then," his gaze darkening. Undyne had brought the subject to him, in a quiet, sad manner.

 **0000000000000000**

The dejavu had always made the young lady a little wary, but before she ever brought the subject to tell Alphys, she had asked Frisk what this feeling was.

After a few minutes, response came.

"I trust you."

A flood of documents filled her phone. At first it was a super long "G1" file, after that, just small files.

She opened the first one, and with a sick pallor, started reading. And reading. And she couldn't stop, only long enough to shake the phone enough to charge the battery.

Each one wrote about the lack of control and the pain Frisk felt as she destroyed their happiness. After the first one, only changes were mentioned.. yet one line persisted, when all else changed.

"And I killed Sans again. I'm so sorry. I love you."

She was almost afraid to open the last one, but she did.

At the end the words came out stilted and hesitant.

"I took control back. Missed my heart. Had to bleed out. Sans helped. I'm so sorry Sans. I love you."

Undyne closed her eyes, the vivid imagery filling her head. She couldn't imagine what Sans in full rage was like- she knew he was stronger than her, though. It made a lot of sense, though, with the way Frisk acted.

No matter how cheerful she was, no matter how much she joked, there was always a heavy burden haunting Frisk, somehow. The same one ... she always saw hovering over the small, jokester skeleton.

That was one of the few times she did call Frisk. It turned out, they both needed to hear each others voices this time.

Tearful reassurances on both side filled the next hour, and when they were finally calmed, Undyne tried to ask the final question she had for Frisk.

"About Sans.." she started.

"No," Frisk interrupted bluntly. "Just stop." Undyne went silent, and the line stayed silent for a long minute before she heard Frisk sigh.

"I can't, Undyne, not again," Frisk said in a pained voice.

"I won't bother you about it again, then," Undyne said, knowing it was hurting her friend desperately. "But if you ever need me, I promise I'm here."

"I know," Frisk said softly, tiredly.

And that was where the subject ended.

But she told Asgore what she knew, making him promise not to interfere, and that.. was why he knew for sure, looking at Undyne.

"Yeah.. not the silly one," she murmured in response, looking up at the sky peeking through the garden, wishing she could see the stars.


	14. Chapter 14

Alphys was finishing up on some equipment, and throughout the underground, the teleport boxes were filling up with a small lock box that couldn't be moved. Each lockbox had a row of injections. The shot would freeze the girls system, when it finally started to fail completely, but only for 48 hours. And her body could only handle 7 shots max.. another one would hurt horribly, and only last 12, before not working at all.

She didn't like this at all, not at all. It was incredibly sad, and it was in some ways, worse than Grave of the Fireflies. Her spines lay flat as she measured out an 8th dosage. Something was telling her she was going to need it, and she didn't like this feeling at all.. She put it in the cool storage, and tried to forget about it.

000

It was bittersweet, Frisk thought, so very bittersweet. She started, before dawn, bundling her daughter against her stomach, with the air tank over her back. Arial was so damned tiny, hardly more than the size of a two year old now, and her arms and legs such thin, weak things.

It was by accident, that when packing, she realized that desperation and DETERMINATION had somehow fused with her inner pain and deep love, to create the blue magic she remembered with such sweet sorrow. It wasn't just her eye now, she could move things almost as well as Sans.

That helped now, as she floated the four suitcases beside her. Rolling suitcases, especially of that size, didn't like to carry up thin ledges, no matter how much practice she had carrying things in the past. She wouldn't have risked Arial, she would have just taken more trips, and that would have stressed all of them out.

Dawn was rising, and the world was flooding with ambers and oranges. Like Papyrus magic.. She took a moment to smile at her daughter.

The girl had babbled at her endlessly about after she saw Pawpaw she wanted to see Unca Pappy, and so she was gonna so she had to wear her bestest outfit.

It had taken Frisk two days to convince her she was not wearing spaghetti no matter how awesome it looked. It took Frisk another day to convince her that she couldn't wear the flying spaghetti monster hat she begged her mom for a year previous. Even if she couldn't explain to her daughter what "politically incorrect" meant.

She finally convinced her daughter to wear something that would make her "just as cool as her Unca Pappy". The girl was decked in a specially ordered, faux layer shirt, that had a white t-shirt with a pair of sunglasses, and under it, in capital letters.

"COOL AND POPULAR - JUST LIKE PAP"

Under that, was the articiular "under shirt" a long black shirt with ruffled black sleeve ends, and a skeleton pattern all the way down.

Her hair was done up in cute pigtails, with orange, soft scrunchies, and she was wearing black sweat pants, and a red scarf around her neck that doubled as a gentler sling. This tight carrying harness was good for climbing, but the scarf would allow people to hold her carefully without giving her the equivilent of saddle sores. The harness, for now, kept her safe when coming up this unstable path.

As for her shoes, she didn't need to walk, so she didn't realy need them- she insisted on these large, fluffy, pink slippers.

Having the blue magic allowed her to pack well for her daughters journey, however. A bag of light clothes and cooling packs for Hotland, a pack of necessities, a pack for waterfall, the ruins, and the moderate temperatures.. Snowdin's bag she didn't think on heavily.

Frisk couldn't deny her daughter in the end, when she asked for that. It would be the first time in years it was gone from her so long..

Approaching the barrier, she set the bags outside the cave, and rolled them in, one by one. Frisk didn't feel comfortable, showing that she had the blue magic of Sans.. Especially to her dad.

Waiting, was Undyne, Dad, and unexpectedly, Dogamy and Dogaressa, who stood in casual clothes, side by side, smiling brightly. Frisk's eyes lit up at the surprise, and now, all the bags beside her, they finally spoke.

"Hey, you are Frisk, right?" Dogaressa said with a kind smile. Dogamy started looking at Arial and cooing, and it was absolutely adorable.

"Yea!" Frisk chirped, feeling happier about this. Suddenly, the young lady wish she had spent more time with the two.

"Awe," Dogamy finally said. "The little human puppy is so adorable!"

Frisk, feeling peaceful, looked down, at her daughter, who had woken up, and was yawning in a cute, childlike manner. "I know," she said softly.

Undyne finally spoke up then. "They overheard me, when trying to report in to Asgore, talking about coming to get you, and they insisted on coming to help," she said, smiling. "Nobody is really sure if the book is true or not, but everyone is filled with hope." Her smile faded a little, but as the girl was turning to see her, she refused to let it disappear.

"Oh Arial," Undyne told. "You are so precious, and wanted. Everyone wants to meet you." Almost everyone, Undyne thought, thinking about the glower on Sans face when Undyne requested Papyrus meet her outside the throne room, today. Arial had requested seeing her Unca Pappy as fast as she could..just in case.

Undyne wasn't sure Sans was safe, but decided to trust that dork of a younger brother's faith in his brother. Neither of them knew why she was requesting Papyrus to be there, and she wasn't sure she wanted to explain, so she didn't. Sans would have stopped him.

After getting the bags through, Undyne carefully held out her arms. "I'm ready Frisk," Undyne spoke softly. "I went through all the videos on how to hold her, and do her stretches, and I think we'll be okay."

A huff came from Asgore. "I wish I could be the one to carry her around," Asgore admitted. "But while I can hold her, I couldn't do her stretches, or use the sling." His eyes looked into the distance. "And we've got a lot of planning to do, too, huh Frisk?"

"Yea.." Frisk trailed off, a sad smile on her face. She carefully unbound Arial, and handed her through the barrier. Undyne slipped on the sling, and nested Arial in it. It was about then the little girl woke up completely.

"Ah! I made it!" She said, looking around with a bright grin on her face. They had adjusted the positioning of the sling, so Undyne could easily tilt her around to see everything, and her first sight was Asgore.

"Pawpaw!" she joyfully called. "I made it! I really did!" And turning back to Arial, she smiled even bigger, and in the closest approximation to a hug she could pull off, leaned her head onto Undyne.

"Auntie, Mommy, Pawpaw.. thank you!" she said in a quiet, delighted voice. Frisk looked devastated, but slipped a smile on her face quickly as her daughter turned her head to see her again.

"Mommy.." Arial said solemnly. "I'll miss you." A choked noise left Frisk's face, and she turned around, unwilling to let her daughter see her cry.

"I'll miss you too, sweetie," Frisk responded, wiping her cheeks. She turned around, again, with a proud smile.

"Arial, you are so brave," Frisk told her. "So very very brave." Frisk stuck her hand through the barrier, touching Arial's hair. "You be a good girl, okay? And let your Pawpaw and me know if anyone starts picking on you."

"Okay Mommy!" Arial chirped. Undyne closed her eye to keep herself from crying as Frisk waved goodbye, and Undyne turned to walk away from the barrier, Dogamy and Dogaressa following, carrying the suitcases.

"Mom!" Arial called out loudly, when they were almost out of sight. "Don't be sad! You won't be bonely much longer!"

And the three monsters wished they didn't have such great hearing, as they heard Frisk fall to her knees, weeping, as Asgore tried to comfort her from the inside the barrier.


	15. Chapter 15

_**A.N. It's late, I know it is. Please don't be mad. Depression is kicking my butt.**_

" OH BOY ! ! ! I AM SO EXCITED ! !" Papyrus said for the twentieth time since coming down. Sans shrugged, and hiding his anxiousness with a large smile, asked the question Papyrus hadn't answered, yet again.

"why are you so pumped up, pap?" Sans asked. "not like you have a heart."

Papyrus was quiet for a moment, and Sans found himself pacing a little, against the edge of the throne room opening. Ever since he finished the book, he had felt this dreadful mix of emotions he couldn't quite place. Right now, though, all he felt was fear, and protectiveness over his brother.

Finally, Papyrus responded.

"UNDYNE TOLD ME IF I COULD COMPLETE THIS MISSION . . . I WOULD BE GIVEN A SPECIAL , VERY IMPORTANT POSITION IN THE ROYAL GUARD . . I WOULD BE . . ? ? HER SUPERIOR . . . ? ? ?" He trailed off, a perplexed look on his face, and Sans stopped, turning quickly, his eyes pinpricks of fear.

"I AM NOT QUITE SURE THOUGH . . ? SHE SAYS I HAVE SPECIAL QUALITIES FOR THE POSITION . . SHE DOESN'T . . BUT WHAT IS A DIPLOMAT ? ? ?" Still, Papyrus grinned, somehow peaceful. "I JUST HAVE THIS FEELING . . THAT SOMETHING AMAZING IS HAPPENING . . "

Sans closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"i hope so bro, i really hope so," he murmured, inaudibly. He heard Undyne's heavy footsteps, and slipped just out of sight, watching.

To his surprise, Dogaressa and came out first, with Dogamy, both of them holding rolling suitcases. Following them, chatting with them calmly, was Undyne.. and she was holding, a tiny human child, a litle girl with familiar eyes but a tiny body. The tubes in her nose were connected to the an air tank on Undyne's back. The rest of her appearance bleached of Sans face, as his mind overlay Frisk on the child, smiling over him with bloodthirsty grin and a knife in hand.

But before he could do anything, the illusion was cracked, as she exclaimed with joy. "UNCA PAPPY!" before she started coughing really bad, Undyne petting her back and walking her through breathing exercises.

The only one who had seen him was Dogamy, and as he glowered at Sans, his blue eye faded, and he lowered his hand. In a deliberate snub, Dogamy turned away. It stung more than he thought it should. Sans had been the best man at Dogamy's wedding, had been the first to know when they found out Dogaressa couldn't have puppies..

And their actions made perfect sense, now, as he watched Undyne walking Papyrus through some sort of physical therapy for the girl, Dogaressa and Dogamy hovering. He watched the girl more carefully now, taking in the outfit the child was wearing, and he found himself smiling against his will as he took in her shirt.

But the skeleton patterned black sleeve slid up her arm as they did the exercises, and he started to realize, with mild shame, that she really couldn't move, taking in the arms that were almost skeleton like themselves. His smile faded away then.

Undyne was watching Papyrus work on the exercises as the child giggled, and babbled happily at Papyrus. She had an unusually soft look on her face, but somehow, by some instinct, she sensed he was there, and turned.

The glare he got was the most menacing expression he had ever seen directed at him, but his eyes slipped back to the girl, his smile still gone, and she took in what he was looking at, and in quiet understanding, gave him a pained smile.

The girl seemed to have keen insight, as she saw Undyne looking at him, and turned to look too. Expressions cycled through her eyes, he saw. Ecstactic excitement, then a hurt looked, followed by a angry glare, finishing with a large pout.. that was far too familiar on an unfamiliar face. The same expression Frisk always gave when he teased her too much.. That expression persisted for many years, before the weight of the years and decades of negotiation pressed on her.

He wondered what was going to happen, now, and shortcut away, as his unreadable emotions became clear. Hurt, love, and guilt..Horrible guilt. 'it wasn't my fault,' he thought angrily. But his inner voice told him it really really was, and he didn't know why.


	16. Chapter 16

**A.N. I've got pretty much no excuse I feel is important enough for what I did to you guys to be ok. Just.. medicine issues, and feeling sort of Sans level apathy. I'm trying to do better. I uh. Started doing stuff on archive oh three (Wowie filters!) because of the tagging and rating system, but not a ton. A few test updates and a few chapter transfers- nothing near like here.**

 **I've actually hit this sorta really cowardly point where I've been writing an awful lot but uh. .. Too scared to actually post it. I'm tired of people being mad at me for not updating, I.. feel guilty for letting everyone down. All the time. I just can't .. I'm just a disappointment.**

 **Sorta.. think, just for undertale mind you! naruto and HP has a better selection here.. I might try to do stuff o** **n archive oh three a** **lil more..? I dunno. The comment system has .. well instead of reviews you post where everyone can see and reply to you, and idk if it's because of accountability but.. there aren't many trolls there.**

 **People can get mean here, hiding behind anon. Or even counting on people never to look at the authors other reviews.**

 **I .. can't promise I'll update. I've been losing time a lot. And the days blur together. The stupid thing is its finished, but. Golly, I went in to this sort whole posting fanfics like Papyrus! "I'll have friends! I'll be popular! People will want to call me.. their friend?"**

 **I get "good job" "update soon" an occasional well thought compliment and a lot of prodding for spoilers. And well, that's the nice side of things!**

 **There are a few exceptions. Saya, I'm talkin' bout you, my little boost of HoPe. But I feel like Papyrus that obtained Mettaton popularity but then no one wants to just like them for them? That they put him on a pedestal of what they can do or what they made instead of who they are? I'm just . . me, and I'm barely good at that.**

 **Wowie, I'm sorry, that was a lot more depressing than I'd thought it'd be. I'm coming off a manic episode and haven't slept in -counts fingers- 28..? hours. I dunno. The Amazing Gela isn't feelin' all that amazing right now. I'll just slip off with this last _corny_ joke. I may not be _grate_ but at least I can share some _cheese,_ right?**

 _ **Building of Something Great**_

Plans were made, strings were pulled, events were scripted, politicians were contacted, land was purchased, construction was started, and the cave on Mt. Ebbot was full, as many important meetings were held.

A support network bloomed, and in an odd parallel, Underground was growing it's own support network.

0000

"ARE YOU SURE ? ? ? " Papyrus questioned Undyne, yet again, the kid bound to his chest carefully.

"Yes, I'm sure, you dork!" she exclaimed for the 5th time. "She wants to go with you. I'm not going to deny her that."

"BUT ! ! " a small sniffle broke Papyrus out of his recriminations and worry.

"Unca Pappy," Arial whined. "Don't you want me?"

Papyrus stooped, and looked down at the shiny puppy dog eyes and pout, before stammering.

"O-OF COURSE ! ! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL TAKE YOU ! ! " Papyrus reassured her, petting at her hair with his gloved hand.

The pout disappeared and she beamed at him. "Yaaay!"

Undyne hid her smirk at the blatant manipulation and spoke up. "So where are you gonna go first, kiddo?" she asked the girl fondly, scratching under her cheek. She ignored the curious look Papyrus gave her, since he had never seen his mentor act so soft and feminine before, before.

"I think I wanna go to the fall place, where Mommy came down, first," Arial mused. "I wanna see Granma and meet the Froggits and see the hole Mommy came in."

Undyne nodded slowly, and Papyrus remembered the book. "SO, THE RUINS , TO SEE THE QUEEN ? " Papyrus asked boisterously, a smile on his face. "THAT'LL TAKE US THROUGH SNOWDIN ! ! WOWIE ! YOU'LL GET TO SEE MY HOME ! ! AND WE CAN PLAY THE PUZZLES ! ! "

Arial's face beamed up at Papyrus.

"Yea! I can't wait!" Arial told him joyously. And her eyes glancing to her "necessity" bag, Arial's eyes filled with DETERMINATION. Her mother wanted her to have fun, and be happy, but this was the one request she made, and the one promise Arial was determined to keep.

000

It happened far too fast. They had gotten half way through Hotland when the heat had her lungs starting to fail. There was self blame and grief that no one had prepared for it, but as she lay there, her first injection being given, the ability to breath came back, and along with, words of comfort, from the very child that lay dying.

Arial spent three days in recovery there, as Alphys devices a capsule she would wear around her neck, with a lock on it, just in case. If and when Arial died, the capsule would protect her soul. Just like the other capsules.. but portable. The little yellow scientist had to keep herself from weeping as slipped the necklace over Arial's head.

Asgore spent most of the days desperately busy, but was there when Arial woke up every morning, to give her breakfast, and there every evening to tell her a story.

The child couldn't swallow anymore, but carefully reconstructing what the scientist had found on the medical articles on the surface internet, a portable iv, the bags stuck in the childs "inventory" pocket space, were given, so she could still obtain the nutrients she needed.

Papyrus both wanted to run away, and never part from the childs side. In the end, he took the burden in his heart, emotionally aching, and having been walked through everything he needed to know medically, head out again.

There was a breathing mask over her face, that she was going to need to keep on throughout Hotland and Snowdin, unless she was inside. The constant influx of healing magic from Papyrus made the pain Arial felt at every movement eased.

Right now, with a blissful expression, she was watching one of Mettaton's concerts from a safe balcony. Papyrus smiled, a smaller one than normal, at her happiness.

Silly girl, he thought affectionately. Although her vocabulary was miniscule.. she was only 5, afterall.. she made jokes constantly, almost as bad as his brother. His eyes closed as he listened to Mettaton's beautiful voice, allowing it to sooth the hurt.

He wished his brother was here, because surely he would know what to do. But he hadn't seen his brother since the child was picked up. Well, not exactly. Every once in awhile he could sense Sans, but when he went to turn, he would see a flash of blue, and no one was there.

Eventually he stopped turning around, afraid of jolting Arial too much, and just allowed Sans to watch from a distance. The hovering was comforting to him, but worrying, because he didn't know why Sans wouldn't just come out.

This was their second day away from the lab. Papyrus had been sleeping uneasily, but last night wasn't as bad, as he read the fluffy bunny book to Arial, and he fell asleep with her curled up against him.

Yesterday, she had coerced him into filling up his inventory with wrapped packages, for dozens of Hotland inhabitants. Sometimes even the oddest ones-

Like Burgerpants, who opened his birthday card, a cute silly one, to a caption inside "Believe in yourself! You can do anything you dream!"

It was odd, that his package was fairly big. The geeky cat with a nervous smile opened it, pulling out a long back case. Opening the case, he gasped in shock, a genuine smile crossing it for the first time in years.

Inside Burgerpants, no, Frankie, had revealed a clarinet, with a pile of music help aids. He had never told ANYONE that desire..And with a peaceful posture, he walked to his pile of smokes.. and swept them all into the garbage, finishing by carefully embracing the child, with the unfortunate necessity of hugging Papyrus too.

"Thank you so much," Frankie told the child. "She was right, I can."

Papyrus opened his eyes, watching the lights fade from the show, but the sparkle in Arial's eyes still clear despite that. He had received a lot of hugs that way, as presents were shared with many inhabitants.

Sometimes they were received with tears, others with smiles, but often enough, hope, and he didn't always know what the cards said or presents meant.

All he knew was slowly, the whole Underground was feeling lighter, happier, even if there was a slight overhanging of grief, as well. Everyone was growing to love the child as much as he did.

That's why he found himself very not surprised as he was escorted to the back room with Arial, a beaming Mettaton, in his humanoid body, beaming.

The star was ever so cautious, as after Papyrus showed him how she could and couldn't move, the robot took Arial, and carefully danced with her. The air practically shined as the girl danced for the first time.

Papyrus watched with a smile, but attentively, and as Arial pinked and started panting, he carefully pulled Arial away from a pouting Mettaton, and slipped her breathing mask on, carefully petting her back.

"Shh sweet little human," Papyrus soothed, his voice subdued. "It's time for a nap now."

"B-but..Unca Pappy.." she yawned. "I wanna dance more."

"You want to be able to spend time with Undyne's neighbor, right?" Papyrus asked gently. "You need to sleep so we can travel."

And slowly, the child began to doze off. When Arial's breathing was eased, Papyrus sighed in relief, before becoming aware that Mettaton was sitting close to him, watching Papyrus in fascination.

"Undyne's neighbor.. Blooky?" Mettaton murmured.

"Mhm," Papyrus acknowledged. "She's been jabbering about sharing her mom's music with Napstablook since she woke up, excluding the concert."

Mettaton found himself trailing his hand over her hair, wishing he could really feel sensation the same way, before smiling kindly at Papyrus.

"You'd make a wonderful father, Darling," the robot praised. Papyrus' face tinted orange, but that faded away at the next part.

"What about Arial's father? Why isn't he in the picture?" Mettaton inquired curiously.

Papyrus eyes dimmer immensely, almost invisible, as he slouched.

"All I know, is that she said was that she was glad he was in prison so he couldn't hurt her 'mommy', anymore, and that she didn't need a dad," he admitted. The tall skeleton didn't mention how without fail, the child would want her now ragged doll next to her. The acrylic paint face was almost peeled off, but it was obvious what short skeleton it was.

He really wished his brother would show up, because it was too cruel to watch this child long for someone who wouldn't come.


	17. Chapter 17

**A.N. Thank you everyone. So much. I'm.. trying.**

 **This chapter is going to give a little bit of a background on why Frisk had blue magic to begin with- There had been a connection there longer than Sans ever knew..**

The rest of the visits went much the same, with minor differences. Dogamy and Dogaressa often showed up to restock their supplies, despite the fact they could easily get it from the universal boxes. Papyrus wouldn't deny them the opportunity to spend as much time with the human puppy as possible.

He had heard them talking about adoption once or twice, and he was glad they seemed to be moving forward.

When they got ready to head to Snowdin, he unpacked the suitcase for that area, and he watched in quiet surprise as he found a feminine look alike of Sans jacket. It was an adult jacket, for a petite young lady, and expertly sewn.

Someone had forgotten to clean the inner pockets, though. It was mostly receipts, and a few coins that Papyrus didn't recognize, but the final thing was a tiny framed picture, an illustration that sent shivers down his spine.

It was a picture of his scarf laying in the snow, and a sense of wrongness filled him. He flipped it over, and carefully carved into the metal of the frame was "Never Forget".

"Oh.." Arial spoke, her eyes sadder than normal. "Sometimes when mommy thought I was asleep, she looked at that picture and cried.. I asked her about it.." Papyrus listened to Arial in solemn curiosity.

"I didn't understand lots, but she said something like um.. time loops? And a bad ghost taking her body away," her eyes grew distant. "I asked how it stopped and she touched her tummy and said detrimsa..determins.. "

"DETERMINATION?" Papyrus asked, hiding how shook up he was.

"Yeah, that!" she exclaimed. "Her determination was so big she stopped herself. I don't know what the second part means, and I don't think she thought I'd hear it.."

"She said, sometimes the biggest gift we can give the ones we love is to die for them."

Her smile turned really sad.

"Unca Pappy, can I have a hug?" she whimpered softly, her eyes filling. Papyrus eyes softened from their lost look of mild horror.

"OF COURSE ! ! " he lifted her carefully, holding her against him closely.

And quietly he heard;

"I love you Unca Pappy."

And his heart cried.

000

Sans shortcut away from his brother holding the tiny girl, his eyes dark. He managed to get quite close, hiding behind a nearby ledge, and cursed that he did, now.

He saw the picture.. he saw the words.. he heard the child.. He wish he hadn't, now. Because the painful blazing emotions that flared through his soul had his chest pulsing with a bright blue glow.

He looked at his hands, shaking. For the longest time, all he could feel was the dust from his brother on them. It was never clean, and if he had skin, he would have rubbed himself raw long ago. Even now, there was the slightest of abrasions from the scrubbing brush.

But his mind flashed back to the vision of Frisk battling him. It wasn't Frisk giving him those red hateful eyes. He was so blind, and angry. So bitter. His brother had died, and then, that was all that mattered.

Memories trickled again. The memories of their happier life together. How even as a child, she tried so hard. The lost, longing glances he caught her giving him. The stubbornness to confront her, and those last moments where he regretted never acting on it.

That last few seconds where she watched him, and her determination withered away, and he knew it was because of him. And he that then, he knew that he loved her.

The shock of waking up in bed at the beginning of it all changed that. The path of dust left in this new Frisk's path changed that too. And after his brother died, he destroyed those feelings entirely.

And he remembered, then, her sitting there, asking him if he would forgive her (I'm sorry, I wasn't strong enough,) her eyes said to him, and he never saw it, and rejected her.

The deep sense of an entire lack of surprise, grief settling upon her shoulders her handling the knife, and giving him one last loving glance before driving it into her stomach.(You're right, I don't deserve it. I'll fix this.)

The feelings of hate and joy that slipped in and out of him at the thought of this cycle ending was all he could gather up as she lay there dying, her eyes pleading alongside her voice.

And he hated himself, because in the depths of him he knew she hadn't been lying, that this was his Frisk, and he wouldn't muster up an ounce of compassion as he dismembered her.

He hated himself, because he remembered laughing in glee, as she fought with herself, disgust, when he knew she still loved him, and now..

And now he looked at his hands and no longer felt dust. No, it was the blood of someone who had suffered as much as him, someone who lay there dying, loving him, as he laughed at her.

And he didn't know how to make it right.

And he didn't know if he ever could.

But he thought about that child..And full of fear and hurt, needed to try.

0000

Down to two injections by the time they left waterfall, Papyrus was uncomfortably aware of the need to hurry. That meant there was little hesitance when the first place she insisted going, was Grillbyz, despite his distaste for the bar.

That had been easing, too, though, as his cooking skills increased. As they walked in, there were many excited voices, either clamoring for when he was going to fix them more of the epic spaghetti, or wanting to see the child.

Both Papyrus and Arial were overwhelmed, the girl starting to gasp in mild panic, when a slam paused everyone's harassment. Grillby had smacked his hands down hard on the bar counter, flames tall in anger, before pointing at Arial.

Everyone turned, seeing her pink cheeks, and Papyrus carefully turning up the oxygen levels on her breathing mask, before slinking to their seats, shamefaced.

Papyrus himself, slipped onto a bar stool, carefully placing Arial up on the counter, and taking her pulse. He was learning more about human medical care than he ever wanted to, he realized with a wry expression. Arial watched Grillby, fascinated, as he tried to turn away, cleaning to hide his unease.

When she was finally calm enough to take her mask off, the first words she made, startled everyone.

"Unca Grill, mommy says cussing is bad," she scolded, pouting. Grillby froze, his flames barely twitching, as he turned around slowly. His flames started up again, seeming calm and slow, and Arial rolled her eyes.

"Of COURSE I understand you Unca Grill," Arial complained. "You and mommy taught each other the secret quiet languages!" The bar went silent as they watched Arial and Grillby.

"Fine, fine," Arial said, making a dramatic huff. "I'm not very good at it though!"

And she closed her eyes, and the stillness of the bar was complete. When she opened them again, one eye was very faintly glowing blue, and a incredibly familiar blue flame blossomed in front of her face, as she panted in exertion.

The sight of them looking at each other, flames dancing, was mesmerizing. Ten minutes of this passed, before all of a sudden, the flame disappeared and she slumped a little, even with Papyrus holding her up.

Her eyelids fluttered, and Arial grumbled tiredly. "Fire words are super hard," she moaned, raising her head slightly. Her eyes darted around dizzily, before a flame hand rested on her head.

After all that, especially with Grillby so thrown off, the witnesses were only slightly surprised she didn't get set on fire from what would normally become a startled slip in control. Instead, however, she perked up, feeling more energetic.

"Thanks Unca Grill! Mommy shared some of her magics with me before I came, but I useded them all up," she smiled innocently.

And as everyone looked at the girl in the adult female version of a familiar jacket, almost swallowed, they immediately understood why that was so important.

Slipping away from a window in front of the bar, so did Sans, and wondered why he never realized. He touched his chest, again glowing blue.

How much of that hate and agony, despair and defeat.. was her feelings, and not his? How much did those deaths kill her, bit by bit.. And although he tried to drown it out, the muted feelings of happiness, sadness, hope and grief that he had felt for years..

Sans had thought himself sick, slipping from sanity, when year after year the strange feelings haunted him. Did they haunt her too?


	18. Chapter 18

**A.N.** _ **This chapter is dedicated to**_ _ **Llew444**_ _ **, who reminded me today that there are people who care about me out there, and not to give up.**_

 **Previously** :

 _Sans had thought himself sick, slipping from sanity, when year after year the strange feelings haunted him. Did they haunt her too?_

 **000000000000000000**

On the surface, after a long planning session, the sleeping Frisk's chest glowed blue briefly, and a pained sigh came from her mouth as a glowing tear ran down her cheek, disappearing before it hit the pillow.

 **000000000000000000**

Frisk woke quickly, her phone alarm going off. She had set the alarm to play Bonetrousle, which had become sort of a motivating backdrop, whenever she had a really hard goal to achieve. She had actually gotten an orchestra to compose this version, through anonymous funding, having it released in mp3 form for free.

As the violins arched, and the saxophones jammed out Papyrus' tune, she quickly got on work clothes, and a hard helmet. Her lawyer had tried to talk her out of doing this, but her press agent was all for it, and well, she exited the room, and turned to smile at Beth, her own hard hat in hand and a shy but elated smile.

 **000000000000000000**

A week previous, Frisk had gotten the news about her daughter.. And although the grief broke her, it didn't turn her to dust. As she stopped her tears falling, she realized that people were clustered around her.

It had been a private diplomat's meeting, and by the rule, if an emergency call came in it had to go on speaker phone. Convincing the diplomats that the monsters and Underground was in fact a reality had been fairly simple, in all actuality.

She had revealed her soul, injured herself with a small cut, and ate a single monster candy. Of course it wasn't pleasant, and it was incredibly risky, but it was more than worth it. It was difficult, though, to decide who to invite. She had, as an author, kept in contact with the press agent who initially worked with the Publishing Agency. But with Frisk offering a lot of money to back him and his choices, he had used his connections and money to interview and discuss 'theories' with a bunch of countries leaders, to see where their sympathy would lie.

Thankfully, the President was one that would fully support the monsters. Less than fortunately, he knew that many people in the united states wouldn't... and that was what this meeting was about. If anything caused risk to the monsters, the idea was to have relocation spots, with universal visas. The monsters themselves had to pass the culture test for all of the places on the map- but the structure would be in place.

There had been, in the end, 11 major leaders- Even a Native American spokesperson, for their land was now considered their own.. Only the president and that spokesperson was on board- for the rest, they were on the fence, unsure of making a world changing policy, afraid for their country, their economics.

And then the call came in. It was King Asgore himself, and he wept as he told her the news, and they talked briefly, before he left. The shock keeping her in seeming reason faded, and she collapsed against the large round table, crying. She didn't notice as the president and the older prime minister of the Netherlands pulled the table away, but when she came back, she was wrapped up in a warm, grandmotherly embrace, of the Queen of England.

A buzzing alerted her to a picture message, and Prince Charles picked up the phone, his eyes silently asking Frisk for permission. She nodded wearily, and he opened it, his eyes widening at the sight.

He hit a few buttons, and the wall sized screen on the far end lit up. It was actually a video message, and everyone could hear.

"Hold on sweetie," the large, furry royal said, his large thumb stroking her ever so tiny forehead clean of sweat. A small yellow dinosaur looking creature ran in, giving her some sort of medicine injection, and the child's pained breathing eased again.

"This is going to only last for awhile, your Majesty," the lizard girl said. A blue webbed hand came down on her shoulder.

"You did your best Al," a rough female voice said. "So we keep her here?" The king shook his head.

"When she's safe to move.. this was her last wish," the goat man said. "I couldn't take that away."

The camera turned around suddenly, and a close up of a oddly shaped skeleton with orange tears slipping down his cheekbones and a big smile was showed to them.

"THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL MAKE SURE HER DREAMS COME TRUE ! ! ! "

And the video cut off.

The was a solemn quietness about the room, the only noise the cracking of the blank TV, before the older lady hugged her.

" _We_ will stand with you," the Queen declared, nodding to her son in who seemed equally as firm in his return agreement, bringing the phone back over.

Agreements came from almost everyone. Across the room, the Japanese Prime minister had his back to them, as he unfolded a paper and lay it on the table, the creasing indicating his brushing it flat.

He turned, leaving the photo, and strode in front front of Frisk, watching with a blank, stern expression.

The room was filled with the feeling of tension, which snapped almost audibly as he bow, slightly.

"Your daughter has great honor," he declared, before rising. "I would respect that strength. Her sacrifice for her people is great, and I would see her wish completed."


	19. Chapter 19

_**A.N. Another chapter posted. I really appreciate everyone's kindness. We are creeping towards the end now. More sads.**_

In the end, all of them supported her, but the much shorter timeline meant things were getting crazy. It took half a week to screen the people needed to screen the people, no exaggeration! They had grand managers making sure construction crews, realtors, suppliers, and transportation crews, among others, were all good, kind, people with no prejudice.

The whole ordeal was tougher to organize than jury screening for a thousand trials.

Money started getting tight, and the governments could only allocate so much without alerting further people. So, using her strings, she set up a massive Undertale festival, with a author reveal. The prices were tiered to keep accessibility available to most, and a world wide news channel was rented out for the whole week of the festival.

Almost a million came in, from buyers, artists, and more. That was just enough to cover the rest of the construction, and furniture. The royalties for the books came in, regardless, and the products. There would still be enough to pay for necessities for everyone, by the time they got here.

00000

Arial leaned against Papyrus tiredly. It was a longer walk from Snowdin to the ruins than she thought, and she wanted it over with. She buried her face into the fluff of her mommy's jacket.

She had just started dozing with Unca Pappy nuzzled her hair.

"ARIAL . . LITTLE HUMAN ," he said, giving her their favorite head nuzzles. " WE MADE IT . ."

And Arial looked over. Sure enough, about 5 meters away was the ruins door.

When they arrived, Arial coughed once, clearing her throat, and ready.

"KNOCK KNOCK!" she called.

A warm voice answered her.

"Who's there?" the maternal feminine voice asked kindly.

"BOO!" Arial responded.

"Boo who?" the woman said.

"GRAMMA! I'm gonna cry if you don't let me in!" Arial told her.

There was a great scuffle, and rattling as the door was unlocked and pulled carefully open, a expression of forlorn hope on her face.

Papyrus smiled, and pet at Arial's hair, as Toriel took in the appearance of the girl, breathing mask and all.

"Come in, dears, it's far too cold to be out here," Toriel said, tugging them inside. The door to the ruins remained open, and was never shut again.

000

Following their tracks, Sans watched as Toriel welcomed them in. He had been watching the little girl get more and more tired.

The deterioration didn't really stop, when they got inside. Toriel had been alone for years more than planned. The few days they were in was a mix of feelings for everyone involved. On good moments, Toriel would sit with Arial reading her snail facts and listening to Arial babble about outside, and baking pie with a humming, content voice.

But that would flip in a second, and Toriel would continue to insist on Arial calling her mom, getting mad when she wouldn't, and scolding 'Chara' fiercely. In those moments, she didn't remember Arial couldn't move, and more than one time Papyrus had to pull Toriel away.

That wasn't a side effect Sans could have predicted, and it was one of those moments that Toriel had tried to 'discipline Chara" for being 'disobedient' and Papyrus was arguing with Toriel in an abnormally hushed voice, where Sans slipped into the room to see the child close up for the first time.

He had become increasingly aware of the injection schedule, and Papyrus was so frazzled that he didn't blame Papyrus for missing this one.. except that there wasn't one in the case, the 8th needle having never been sent. He closed his eyes in bitter defeat, unable to look at the pale, drained girl laying there.

Sans found himself weeping, unsure of the exact reason, but his soul felt a horrible sense of loss of what could have been. A faint brush touched his clenched hand, and his eyes opened to see Arial's soft expression of adoration, her one eye glowing the faintest blue, slowly dimming.

"It's okay daddy," Arial reassured Sans. Moving, almost not of his own free will, he swept her up in a hug.

"i'm so sorry," Sans sobbed. "i wasn't there, i should have been, and i wasn't." That gentle touch brushed him again, and it was the tiniest blue hand. He heard the whisper in his ear.

"I'm glad I finally got to see you daddy," her voice spoke to him, adoringly. And then they spent a long moment, Sans holding her close, as she pat at him, his shoulders shaking with silent tears.

"Daddy.. " Arial started. "I made a promise." And she whispered her promise into the side of Sans skull. He tensed, listening, and at the end of it all, relaxed.

"okay baby," Sans said finally. "..i get promises.. and this one's important."

Carefully taking the iv's out of the inventory space, he disconnected them carefully, bandaging the wound as much as he could. He slipped the only item into inventory she wanted to carry, having hidden it inside her doll. His smile was bitter, taking the jacket off his own doll to opening a velcro seam in the back, pulling out the item.

Picking up Arial again, he took her on her first shortcut, and they came out at the flower patch at the beginning, and he sat her down onto the soft yellow flowers.

"Don't forget my heart, daddy," Arial reminded Sans unnecessarily, as he took off the small soul capsule around her neck. It was keyed to her, so when she died, it would show up there immediately. No one could hurt it, and he would protect it with his life.

And Sans stood, after petting her hair one last time. "you did a good job baby.." he turned so she couldn't see the tears going down his cheekbones.

"Will you keep mommy safe?" she asked in a small, pathetic voice, realizing the end was so very close, and scared, but keeping up a brave front. He read that in her voice easily, turning around and kissing her forehead, the glowing drops falling on her.

"of course baby, i promise.." he pledged, unable to keep himself from giving her one last hug.

"I'm glad, daddy," Arial told him. "I'm okay now. You need to go." And he put her down, unable to look back again as he walked away, the hardest thing ever did. And just before he shortcutted a few rooms away, he heard her calling out, trying to keep her promise.

"FLOOOOWEY! FLOOOWEY! _AAAASRIEL_!"


	20. Chapter 20

**_A.N. More bittersweet beauty. Heading towards the end ever so steadily._**

The calls went on for several hours, getting weaker and weaker, and the little girl was afraid, so afraid, she was going to break her promise to her mother. And she grew more and more desperate, calling out more.

She could feel her heart slowing, and it was hard to breath. But she had _**PROMISED**_. So filled with **DETERMINATION** , the room flooded with magic.

"AAAASRIEEELL!" she called out with her last breath, her eyes closing in fatigue after. A plop on her forehead had her opening her eyes, as a she opened her eyes, her blurred vision seeing the moving leaf that had pat her head, and the small vine that wiped away a few tears from her face, the flower looking at them closely with an expression she didn't understand.

"..you idiot.." he murmured.

And a sweet, sad smile on her face, she let her eyes fall closed.

'..you came.'

Her soul disappeared, and Flowey stared at the corpse, an old multi cassette tape player next to her, as her inventory emptied.

And hesitantly, he pressed play.

"Hey Asriel.. I just turned 10 today and they let me pick my own present.. I started talking a few years ago, but I finally figured out what to say.."

 _Time passed._

"Hey Asriel, Chara is talking to me more now, and I'm going thru school really fast.. I miss you all.. by the way.."

 _Time passed._

"Hey Asriel, Chara is at peace now.. I'm going to try to come home and save everyone.."

 _Time passed._

"Hey Asriel, it's me again.. Dad wouldn't let me in.. I'm sorry."

 _Time passed._

A sob. "Asriel, I don't know what to do. He.. that man.. How do I tell dad..?"

 _Time passed._

"Hey, Asriel, it's been awhile. Your niece was born today. I named her Arial Chara Dreemurr, although up here her legal name is gonna have to be Melody Cherish Hope; not everyone would understand.. I tried to give her real name based on everyone I love. Heh, off all the fonts I could use, obviously I'd use the one closest to yours.. I hope I can see you again."

And it went on, small updates, large updates.

"Hey.. Asriel.. I told Arial about you.. she knew about these tapes, and she.. she's such a good girl. I don't know if you'll get to meet her, but if you do, please treat her well..."

000

When Sans returned, it was to a little boy, a familiar one, crying over the body of the little girl who was supposed to be his. He didn't know what to fill, but when the boy, Asriel, looked up, he immediately grasped onto Sans leg, bawling.

Oh.. he knew what to feel. He sat down heavily, and opened his arms up, and Asriel darted into them trustingly, clinging to him and sobbing into his chest. Sans wrapped his arms around the child, and wept.

Somewhere, far away, he could hear his daughter talking, and the capsule around his neck glow softly with **determination**.

 _"Mercy, Hope, Compassion. These are the things that monster souls are made of."_ And like a memory, the voice faded away, leaving only an impression in his mind. He looked down at Asriel, whose normal eye color had changed to a familiar cyan blue.

Standing, he lifted them both gently. "hey kiddo, let's go home," Sans sad, and hiding a tearful face into his side Asriel nodded.

And with Arial cradled in one arm, so very tiny, and Asriel sitting on his hip, held just as carefully, he shortcut away.

000

Papyrus looked at the empty room, dread trickling down his spine. He was frozen in that state, for someone had taken Arial. He wasn't sure what to go, from there. Should he be angry at Toriel? Should he search in fear? Should he alert people? Should he cry at his loss? Even a rampage of destruction seemed in the cards.

Fortunately, none of that happened, as his phone buzzed with a text. He took out Frisk's smart phone first, before realizing it was the note of his regular phone. It was from Sans..He opened it, with trepidation.

"have arial with me. she's gone. wasn't right to leave her with tori. at home."

There was only a rush of movement as he darted out of the room, over the stairs rail, down the stairs, out of the ruins, and further.

While Sans had his shortcuts, Papyrus was able to keep up with him, just about. To achieve that, he became a champion runner. The blur knocked down many monsters slightly by just wind, and all of them really saw was a flash of red.

When he reached his house, he slowed. He didn't really want to see what was beyond the door. The tall skeleton didn't want to believe it was true.

He opened the door carefully, his eyes dim at the sight upon them. Arial was laying on the sofa, so still and pale, her hands crossed over her stomach with a single buttercup. Leaning against the sofa was Sans, his arms full of a sobbing child, a little mini Asgore.

Normally, that would be something that Papyrus commented on.. but he didn't feel like his normal boisterous self, and he walked to the side of the sofa trailing his gloved hands over the buttercup, with sad curiosity.

"..leave it there," Sans said, as usual not needing to look at Papyrus to tell what he was doing or thinking. Equally, he was able to tell the question before Papyrus ever asked.

"the kiddo thought it was poetic.." Sans trailed off, and Papyrus took a good look at the child staring with at him, his eyes a familiar white in black, as blue tears of magic overflowed. It was somehow natural on the small goat child.

"..Sans," he said in a subdued voice. "Who is that?"

"oh this..?"

0000

Sans had been a mix of muddled thoughts since he arrived. The magic the filled the child was soothing to his soul. This person that used to be Flowey, that had once been the prince, Asriel, was his, in every way shape and form.

..But he was also her's, in the casual movements, in the why they tried to smile to hide the tears. In the soft compassion they had, comforting others when hurting. The same compassion Arial had given him..This was Frisk's, also, in every way, shape or form.

He remembered the maddened Toriel, tormented after years. Now it was obvious how close she was. Toriel had killed the first, real Frisk dozens of times before she had escaped the ruins. That never really left Frisk, in the end.

He thought of Asgore, who had killed so many children, true innocents. He wasn't much better.. but as he held Asriel, he wasn't going to let the child go. The second child of his soul felt like a second chance. And he has a promise to hold up to Arial.. The body isn't the only thing that needed to be safe.

The idea of an angel of the prophecy, to free them, had felt cliche, and when their peace ended, it seemed more of a curse. But his did get his angel.. little Arial, with a soul so big her body couldn't keep it. And Arial gave him a second angel..

So when Papyrus answered, the name slid of his tongue.

"..oh this? this is my new son, seraph," he said, in a voice equally filled with grief and peace. "...the final gift my daughter gave me."

 _'San's Seraph.. sounds perfect.'_


	21. AN Ch: 20 info (must read for context)

_**Gonna throw a line in here on the topic of Asriel's soul, since a lot of people think Arial's soul became Asriel's.**_

 _ **There is an equation here for his soul's composition.**_

 _ **Mercy,**_

 ** _Hope,_**

 ** _Compassion._**

 ** _Compassion was Frisk, who has cared for Asriel for many years despite the being parted, truly regretting being unable to save him._**

 ** _Hope was Arial, who had faith that her last message would reach Asriel._**

 _ **But the equation wasn't truly fulfilled- Asriel would have turned back into a flower soon-**_

 _ **Until Sans arrived. Sans, who had lived through Flowey's resets and had seen the horror Flowey had wrecked upon his timeline.**_

 _ **But seeing Asriel, he embraced the child, deliberately, despite everything, granting him Mercy.**_

 ** _And so, composed of those things, Asriel was reformed as family to all of them._**

 ** _I hope that makes sense._**

 ** _ILY guys_**

 ** _~Gelalala_**


	22. Chapter 21

**_A.N. Last chapter everyone. Thank you for staying with me on this wild ride. I appreciate all of you! Thanks for staying_** ** _DETERMINED_** ** _._**

Plans were finalized, people packed, and followed Arial in a procession of hope and grief, as she traveled home. This final stretch of the Underground was taken slowly, as people filled the ranks silently. Even the babies were silent, as the holy feeling of freedom gained by loss filled the air.

Everyone had a ribbon around their wrist- a ribbon cut from the wrapping of the presents the child's mother had given them, because at least one present per family was given, regardless of personal knowledge.

They left Snowdin, more of them slipping into the line. By now, the communication had chained through the whole Underground, and by the time they arrived in Hotland, Sans was able to let his magic fade, the bone stretcher dissipating, to put Arial in the first, and hopefully last, royal coffin.

A memorial was made, and at the end of it, on its own, the soul of Arial escaped her capsule, and they could hear her **DETERMINATION** as the other souls joined her. One by one, they fused, a healthy faint image of Arial floating.

"Thank you everyone!" she called, wings spread behind her back. She floated over them, hundreds of them, dropping feathers of hope, mercy, and compassion. Sans felt himself drawn to the image, as Arial delicately landed next to Frisk. He hadn't even realized Frisk was there, but felt pulled to join them, and Seraph trailed behind his father, hope wide in his eyes.

A hurricane of magic fell upon them, visually obscuring and fast, but doing no damage. People were distracted from the sight, as the barrier shattered.

But in the ears of Sans, Seraph, and Frisk, there was a collection of voices, merged, that spoke to them. Within it, the other humans souls spoke. Within it, _**Chara**_ spoke. Within it, _**Gaster**_ spoke. All of them spoke together, the same thing.

 _"This is our gift to you."_

And as the hurricane faded, Frisk was slumped against Sans, his arms wrapped around here, as Seraph cried by their legs. But the room was lighter, as they turned to face everyone. In Frisk's arms, was a tiny newborn, a skeleton with white feathered wings, and padded with magic in a human shape, glowing blue and transparent, wide white eyes looking out in awe.

They were smiling, all of them, and their tears faded, the blue magic drifting into the baby, who giggled in pleasure. And as one, the room celebrated.

 _ **Arial!**_ _In who freedom comes! Angel of the prophecy!_

And baby in one arm, Frisk took Seraph's hand with the other, who took Sans', and as a family they met the outside.

000

The land's beauty was amazing, still, Asgore thought, watching the new family in front of them. The ledge had been expanded into a temple, with staircases down one side, and ramps and elevators for those who couldn't walk.

At the bottom, hundreds of humans stood, regular workers, still dusty, cheering.

Frisk turned back to the monsters, who were taken aback.

"These are the humans that helped build your home! They are so excited to meet you!"

And the monsters let out a cheer. In a natural movement, they mingled, following the guides slowly to their new home. There was enough land having been purchased up that it became a small gated city, with conservatories, apartments, some for monsters that need speciality locations like frozen weather or swamp water, a market place, a theatre, and.. the first official restaurant, Grillbyz.

At the entrance to the town was the city sign _**"Freedom, Montana - Mercy, hope, compassion"**_

0000

The Undertale Festival had been the biggest event of the nation, and was going to become the greatest event of the world, perhaps the century, Frisk realized, as she stepped out, the press in the wings, largely ignorant, wearing the royal robe her father had given her.

She tucked her hair, which normal braid was also pinned up with Sans' bones, the possessive skeleton always happier when he could sense her. The festival was doing so well, but this could make or break them.

She abandoned the podium immediately, sitting on the edge of the stage, mic in hand, security keeping her just 10 feet away from the crowd.

"Hey everyone," Frisk said kindly. "You guys probably know me by my pen name, **Toby Fox**."

The room went quiet in anticipation, and with a smile, brought her soul out. She found herself fearless, even as she knew she was being recorded, internationally.

She stood, taking a step back. "But you also know me as **Frisk Dreemurr.** " Carefully, she pulled her soul back in. The curtains rose, and it was her family, her monster family. The world seemed to stand still, and many a person sucked in a breath, when the one they knew as Sans walked forward, carrying something under his jacket they couldn't quite see. The one they knew as Asriel was being held by Papyrus, with a big smile, and when they got to where she was, Asriel flung himself into his mom's robe, hiding.

"There's lots of people here, mommy," they heard, almost muffled. They didn't seem to realize everyone was hearing him.

A bony palm rested on the furry child's head. "you're fine, Seraph, i've got you," Sans consoled. Braver, the named Seraph popped out and waved and called out _"Hiii!"_ before tinting blue and hiding behind Sans.

"Daddy they are looking at me..!" he whined. Sans rolled his eyes, and handed Frisk the bundle he was holding.. The tiniest, glowing baby bones with angel wings.

"she doesn't like being away from you for so long," he told her, grinning, one eye closed. "tibia-nest, she was getting _bonely_."

They were in their own little world, as Frisk gave a dramatic huff and Papyrus rolled his eyes, before she leaned in and gave Sans a kiss against his teeth, him flushing blue.

They were shocked out of it quickly, as a squeal echoed from mid audience.

 **"I SO SHIPPED IT!"** a high feminine voice cried, before the young teen covered her face, embarrassed.

It was only seconds later an equal squeal came from stage. _**"YOU TOO?!"**_ Alphys shrieked, bouncing in delight. Everyone turned to her, and she got nervous, poking her fingers together. "Ahhah.. um.." Undyne gave her a noogie.

"You are such a dork!" she cackled, before planting a kiss on her head. "That's why I love you so."

The audience started excitedly cheering, and Frisk smiled at Sans, their hands wrapped around each other as Arial cooed softly, and Seraph ran back to hug his now grandfather, Asgore, Papyrus trailing after.

It wasn't perfect, it never was going to be. But that was life, and Frisk was okay with that.

The fact that this story has ended happily, fills you with _**DETERMINATION**_.

 _ **A.N. And this is why I consider this story "Angst with a happy ending." I have other Undertale fics written- Pretty much all of them beyond a few one shots are unfinished. The unfinished ones may never get finished. Would you guys still like to see them?**_


End file.
